Phuket's awesome police: 6 minutes from theft to arrest
Prapaporn Jitmaneeyaphan


Atidech with police officers and items he hid in the bushes after his thefts.

PHUKET: -- Police took just six minutes to catch a snatch-and-go thief who grabbed a Russian woman’s handbag yesterday evening (July 21) at 7.12pm.

Thirty-two-year-old Daria Vladimirovna Kurtova, from Krasnoyarsk, was in the car park in front of HomePro, Chalong, when a man grabbed her bag and ran off with it.

Spotting the theft, a security man at HomePro used his walkie-talkie to alert Chalong Police Station, on the other side of the road.

Officers led by Pol Sub Lt Porwaris Panajinaporn piled out of the police station, armed with a description of the thief – blue top and shorts – and spotted him in Soi Mae Umphan. They chased and collared him.

A body search of the thief, Atidech Yodwicha, 24, from Maha Sarakham, turned up cash totalling B4,780 but no bag.

Atidech admitted the theft and told officers that he had hidden Ms Kurtova’s bag in bushes nearby. When they went there, police found not only the bag but nine other items including purses, bank books and ATM cards, cached in the foliage.

Atidech admitted these were from previous snatch-and-run robberies he had carried out in the area.

Within an hour Ms Kurtova had her belongings returned to her.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket%E2%80%99s-awesome-police-6-minutes-from-theft-to-arrest-40950.php


-- Phuket News 2013-07-22

You can't beat a good old fashioned Phuket "manhunt". Nice of the bloke to make it easy by robbing someone outside the police station.

Don't worry, tomorrow the thief is out of jail and snatching bags from women again

In other news Phuket's 'awesome' Police took 18 years to not stop the Jet Ski scams from taking place on a daily basis. Although it is reported they only took 5 minutes to scoop up 23,600 baht in extortion money from poor Thais on motorbikes.

Lets give these awesome guys a round of applause.

Crazy stupid bloke, do they know what they do to these women for a few thousand baht ! She will worry for a long time now about being on her own!

And another 6 minutes from the "pointing photo op" to a release on permanent bail?

Really? Mine's three years and counting.

I thought they had arrested themselves after reading the headline.

You can't beat a good old fashioned Phuket "manhunt". Nice of the bloke to make it easy by robbing someone outside the police station.

And "concealing" the evidence spanning the entirety of his criminal career in one spot. Hard to believe he's unable to find well-paid employment.

But really it is an international characteristic of so many who turn to crime to solve all their problems.

My favorite was the Brit who robbed a bank and, in full view of numerous witnesses, ran across the street to his own home to hide out. But there are others:

Sometimes, a criminal's stupidity does not rear its ugly head at the time of the crime. One man robbed a bank and made a clean getaway. The next day, however, he returned to the same bank and tried to deposit the money into his account.

Birmingham, England

A local man stormed into a local bank demanding all the cash tellers had on hand. When security windows began to go up as he reached over the counter, the criminal decided he had better make a run for it. For nearly ten minutes he tried to escape through the door from whence he came, however it simply would not budge. Figuring that the doors had been automatically locked, the man resigned himself to being arrested. As police escorted him from the bank, he noticed on the door in bright red letters the word PULL.

San Francisco, CA

A man walked into the downtown Bank of America and on the back of a deposit slip wrote, "this iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag." While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, the man began to worry that someone may have seen him write the note and might call the police before he could reach the teller. So, the criminal left the Bank of America and walked across to the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting in line for several minutes there, he handed his note to a teller. After reading it, the teller determined that this robber was perhaps a few sandwiches short of a picnic. She told him that because his note was written on a Bank of America deposit slip, she could not honor his demand. He would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo withdrawal slip or go back to the Bank of America. Feeling defeated, the man said he understood and left. The Wells Fargo teller promptly called the police, who arrested the man a few minutes later--still waiting in line at the Bank of

America.

Home Pro security walkie-talkie on the same frequency as the Thai Police?

Home Pro security walkie-talkie on the same frequency as the Thai Police?

I expect that there are police secure frequencies and security frequencies monitored by the police station.

You can't beat a good old fashioned Phuket "manhunt". Nice of the bloke to make it easy by robbing someone outside the police station.

well done

worries me thou that he was busy with that awhile allready so they could have posted a bib outthere ?

Home Pro security walkie-talkie on the same frequency as the Thai Police?

I expect that there are police secure frequencies and security frequencies monitored by the police station.

sure they all come from the same factory in china ?

Poor Thai Police. Once you have a bad rep internationally and your credibility is blown, you will only reap scorn, even if you do the right thing for once. Som nam na.

Excellent... maybe this will convince them that doing some valuable work will achieve results...

It was divine intervention or accidents just happen. Congrads to law-enforcement.

It's great that he was caught so quickly. However, there are between 6, maybe 8, bank account books there. It seems like a lot of bank books to be carrying around at any one time, don't you think!? Even with Thai banks giving out a different book for each account within their own bank. However, it's probably just me, worrying about my stuff being stolen while out and about.

How about credit where credit is due, instead of the usual jaded comments of the Embittered Expats? Good work, Phuket Police, and Home Pro Security.

Now if more police would actually do their jobs that way and then actually prosecute the dumb criminals and serve some real justice, maybe the police could start to make their reputation a little better, however since so many of the police ARE the criminals, never going to happen.....But good job boys, keep it up....

How about credit where credit is due, instead of the usual jaded comments of the Embittered Expats? Good work, Phuket Police, and Home Pro Security.

That's like thanking a road cleaner for only picking up a single cigarette butt after Songkran.

Don't worry, tomorrow the thief is out of jail and snatching bags from women again

Just can't stand good news, and the police doing their job, can we? You should be ashamed. Wake up and smell the coffee. This is a good thing.

i will say, they do have an excellent set up here with taxi's and security having the radio's.

if they really wanted, they could easily catch and prevent much more crime.

You can't beat a good old fashioned Phuket "manhunt". Nice of the bloke to make it easy by robbing someone outside the police station.

+1

> Home Pro security walkie-talkie on the same frequency as the Thai Police?

They all use these "Red Radios" you see everywhere.

They are the Thai version of CB radio, but here are mainly used for security and police..

"Thailand has an 80 channel CB-style service using FM between 245.000 and 245.9875 MHz. Units are allowed up to 5 watts RF power. Besides personal use, the equipment is used by search and rescue and businesses The hand-held units usually have a red case. There are an estimated one million users of the service, often in large cities"

Crazy stupid bloke, do they know what they do to these women for a few thousand baht ! She will worry for a long time now about being on her own!

Do you actually think they give a f... about anybody but themselves.

I guess this lady was required to donate to the Police tea money fund.

Poor Thai Police. Once you have a bad rep internationally and your credibility is blown, you will only reap scorn, even if you do the right thing for once. Som nam na.

How true. The ninety nine percent are forever giving the remaining one per cent a bad name.