For Joseph Mburu, September 29 was just another normal Sunday.

Mburu, who is a cab driver picked up a passenger at Imperial, in Pipeline estate, whom he was taking to a birthday party in the city centre.

On arrival at JB, Mburu says he saw a car that looked very familiar. The car was being driven at a slow pace.

A few minutes after trying to crack his brain, it came to him. This was the white vehicle, that had been posted in one of the WhatsApp groups for cab drivers, after it was stolen Mombasa.

“I asked the client who I was with to confirm whether it was the same car and she did. My client who was on the passenger seat, then took a photo of the vehicle and sent it to the group and instantly we got a reply confirming that this was the car that had gone missing,” he says.

Mburu continues, “I immediately called the police but before they arrived, I followed the vehicle at a safe distance ensuring the driver does not spot me.”

He says the driver seemed to be heading to town from Mzee Wanyama but instead diverted at Bartmore, making a stop between two apartments.

“From a distance, I could see him conversing with a passer-by. My guess is he was asking for directions. He then took the route as if heading to Mzee Wanyama and got into a car wash called Auto Carwash,” Mburu vividly narrates.

At the carwash, Mburu says the driver got out of the car and just stood beside the vehicle.

“I parked a few meters away and watched him from a distance. “

Mburu notes that he was in constant communication with the police and described the man to the law enforcers.

It was at that point that the police arrived and were able to easily identify him and arrest him.

The vehicle in question belongs to Victoria Mumbua, a cab driver who went missing on Friday last week in Mombasa.

The vehicle was intercepted in Pipeline Nakuru county driven by Edwin Ng’etich Kipkemoi, who is in police custody at Mwariki Police station, awaiting to be transferred to Mombasa.

Nakuru cab driver's quick thinking that helped recover stolen vehicle

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Bret Sanya