18 year old girl nabs phone thief after hot chase

James Amesiba, the suspect and his nemesis, Elizabeth Adarkwa in the background at the police statio

An 18-year-old former student of Kumasi Girls Senior High School, Elizabeth Adarkwa, brought the Kumasi suburb of Asafo to a standstill Friday morning with her sheer display of bravado when she single-handedly overpowered a notorious phone snatcher at Adum and handed him over to the Asokwa police.

Luck ran out for the wanted phone snatcher, James Amesiba, who claims to be 17 years but was born in 1980, after he snatched the phone from Elizabeth and attempted to escape with it.


Elizabeth, a former 100, 200 and 400 meters athlete dug into her sprinting reserve, when she popped out of the windows of the taxi she was travelling in, gave the young man a hot chase for about 10 minutes before overpowering him.

The physically-fit lady trapped the man to the ground and screemed for help till some youth assisted her to send the thief to the police station.

The lady told the Daily Graphic she was returning from a church programme with a brother at Santase and on reaching Asafo, she decided to make a quick call while they were stuck in heavy traffic.

Amesiba who was said to be lurking around apparently spotted Elizabeth making the call and in a flash, snatched the phone and bolted.

Unfortunately for Elizabeth, she and the other passengers in the taxi had been trapped because the door locks were malfunctioning.

She then decided to go through the window, took off her sandals and gave the criminal a hot chase till she arrested him.

The Asokwa District Police Commander, DSP George Bawa, who confirmed the story to the Daily Graphic said the wanted phone snatcher would be arraigned before court on Monday.

He cautioned passengers especially those who sit by the windows to be wary of their personal safety when receiving or making calls.