Indonesian and Malaysian men arrested in Udon Thani car break-in theft
Police in Udon Thani arrested an Indonesian man and a Malaysian man for breaking into a parked car and stealing cash and a gold accessory from a Thai woman, while a third foreign suspect remains at large.
The victim, Napasorn, 48, filed a complaint with Mueang Udon Thani Police Station on February 3. She told officers that she withdrew 500,000 baht in cash from a bank before travelling to another bank inside a shopping mall to pay instalment for her SUV.
Napasorn said she parked her vehicle in the mall’s car park and left her handbag inside the SUV, which contained a brown envelope of cash. About an hour later, she returned to find that one of the car window was smashed. Her wallet, containing 1,000 baht in cash, and a gold pendant valued at around 15,000 baht were missing.
Police launched an investigation and reviewed CCTV footage from the area, which revealed that three foreign men were operating together. Officers found that the suspects arrived on two separate motorcycles, parked nearby, and entered the bank where they appeared to observe customers.
After seeing Napasorn withdraw a large sum of cash and place it in a brown envelope, the suspects allegedly followed her to the shopping mall car park. One of the men was seen using a brick to smash the car window, steal the valuables, and flee the scene. The trio later checked into a hotel near a bus terminal.
Police later identified the suspects as a 54 year old Indonesian national named Husin, a 27 year old Malaysian man named Muhammad Rafuddin, and a 45 year old Malaysian man named Sulaiman.
Officers successfully arrested Husin and Rafuddin as they were preparing to flee Thailand. However, the third suspect, Sulaiman, managed to escape and is still being sought by police.
During interrogation, Rafuddin claimed the group had initially travelled to Thailand for a holiday but ran into financial trouble after being unable to withdraw money from ATMs. He alleged that Sulaiman encouraged the group to commit theft, leading them to target Napasorn after seeing her withdraw a large amount of cash
According to Channel 7, Husin broke down in tears during questioning, pleading for forgiveness. He said he did not intended to commit the crime and claimed he was persuaded by Sulaiman.
Husin also told victim that his parents were elderly and ill and depended on him for care. He reportedly offered to return 4,000 to 5,000 baht to the victim in exchange for dropping the charges.
Napasorn said she forgave the suspects on a personal level but insisted on pursuing legal action. She added that she felt fortunate the thieves did not take the 500,000 baht she had withdrawn earlier, which would have caused far greater financial hardship.
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