Thai man arrested for gold necklace theft after 4-hour standoff

Police arrested a Thai man at an apartment in the central province of Samut Sakhon for the theft of a gold necklace worth nearly 130,000 baht, following a four-hour police operation.

The gold thief, 35 year old Nitirat “Mac” Rangnoi, committed the crime at a som tam restaurant in the central province of Nakhon Pathom at 3pm on July 12. He pretended to order food from the victim before using a gun to threaten her into removing her gold necklace and giving it to him.

The victim shouted for help, prompting her son, who was at a nearby store, to come to her aid. Mac then pointed the gun at the victim’s son and fired three to four shots. Fortunately, the man managed to dodge them. The son threw a rock at Mac, causing him to fire more shots before fleeing the scene on his motorcycle.

Officers from Pho Kaew Police Station tracked Mac down to an apartment in Samut Sakhon at 7.30pm on July 18.

When officers tried to apprehend Mac, he resisted and threatened them with a gun. In response, the officers withdrew and sought the assistance of Mac’s elder sister, wife, and son to persuade him to surrender to the police.

His sister reminded him of a promise he had made to their mother before her passing, that he would refrain from further criminal activity. Despite their efforts, spanning over two hours, Mac remained unresponsive.

Tear gas

Notably, Mac had left his front door ajar, prompting the police to deploy a drone to survey the interior. However, he was not found inside. Subsequently, the officers opted to deploy tear gas into the room, yet Mac did not emerge.

Suspecting that Mac may have fled through the ceiling, the police then threw a stun grenade in an attempt to disorient him, but this proved unsuccessful. They proceeded to damage the ceiling of Mac’s room in their search, yet he was not located there. Their search expanded to neighbouring rooms, where eventually Mac was discovered hiding in the third room.

With no further resistance, Mac was successfully taken into custody after a four-hour operation, and officers escorted him to the police station. As he was escorted to the police vehicle, Mac faced criticism from onlookers gathered to witness his arrest.

Mac responded to the criticism by apologising to the victim and the local community. He explained that he did not initially surrender because he was scared.

Mac is facing four charges, including attempted murder, committing theft using a weapon, illegally possessing a firearm, and illegally using a firearm in a public place.