By Alloycious David
A group of alleged criminals dubbed, ‘Passenger 57’ has narrowly escaped death from the hands of an angry mob protesting at the commercial district of Redlight in Monrovia’s Paynesville suburb.
A police officer smartly drove the alleged criminals away over the weekend from the scene amidst protest by the angry crowd, preventing the angry mob from lynching the men.
Mob justice is a common occurrence in Liberia, often leading to fatalities.
The officer and a female victim had pursued the criminals on a motorbike from an unknown destination where the unidentified lady was robbed by a group of criminals riding on a taxi with plate number A211622.
According to eyewitnesses, the lady was cajoled into the taxi by the alleged criminals who robbed her of several valuables items including phone and unspecified amount of cash and forced her out of the vehicle.
She immediately alerted the police officer who helped her chased the criminals on a motorbike when they were caught at the Redlight market area.
The driver reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and ran while his friends were arrested by the police.
The situation attracted a group of mob, who demanded that the alleged criminals including a lady be hack to death and the vehicle burnt
But, the officer prevented the alleged criminals from being flogged, when he fled with them apparently to a nearby police station.
The officer personally engaged the mobs and was seen in harsh exchanges with them, cautioning them not to attacked the alleged criminals.
The angry mob chased the vehicle and thrown stones at the vehicle as, the officer speed out from the crowd, which had already besieged the vehicle.