Brazilian national’s reckless car chase in Patong leads to multiple collisions
A reckless high-speed car chase on the streets of Patong resulted in the capture of a Brazilian national. The man’s careless actions not only caused multiple collisions but also sent a van carrying foreign tourists careering off the road.
Early this morning, a report came into the local police station about a hit-and-run incident near the Government Savings Bank Intersection in Patong in the west of Phuket. Eyewitnesses identified a white Toyota pickup truck as the culprit, with the last two numbers on the licence plate being 46.
In a dramatic chain of events, police officers who were in the vicinity spotted the pickup truck and initiated a pursuit. Although they managed to corner the vehicle near Wat Patong, the driver, later identified as Marcelo da Conceicao Nascimento, accelerated and sped away. His high-speed journey up the hill was fraught with near-misses with other vehicles, reported The Phuket News.
The situation escalated around the Patong City sign on Patong Hill, where the Brazilian national’s truck collided with two vans – one a Hyundai and the other a yellow-plate passenger van ferrying eight foreign tourists. The latter incident caused the van to skid off the road and roll onto its side, resulting in injuries to the driver. Despite this, the Brazilian continued his reckless care drive downhill towards Kathu.
The car chase continued into Soi Bang Thong, and the police were finally able to establish the full licence plate of the pickup – กช-9646 registered in Trang. This information was relayed ahead to Kathu Police, who set up a checkpoint to intercept the runaway driver.
In a last-ditch attempt to evade capture, Nascimento drove into Bang Thong village, where he hit a motorbike carrying a Thai couple, causing minor injuries. He then abandoned his vehicle at a golf cart repair shop and attempted to escape on foot, but the police were not far behind. Following a brief chase through a nearby golf course, officers arrested Nascimento.
Subsequent tests at Kathu Police Station revealed Nascimento’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to be 202, an alarming level indicative of severe intoxication. The full range of charges against the Brazilian national is yet to be determined.
