Thieving teens

PHUKET CITY: A gang of young thieves was collared by Phuket’s finest recently as they carried away vehicle parts from a city parking lot. While wayward teenagers pilfering spare parts from parking lots hardly constitutes news these days, in this case the choice of venue chosen by the young hoods was noteworthy: the vehicle impound lot of the Phuket City Police, located right behind their headquarters on Chumphon Rd. Officers admitted thieves have had a profitable harvest in the past, attacking the lot dozens of times and costing officers, they asserted, millions of baht. The incident came to light at 11:30 pm on May 5, when Crime Suppression Squad Leader Sgt Prajuab Wongstong and his men found four youths, their arms loaded with motorcycle parts, headed for motorbikes parked outside the impound. “They were trying to get away with the parts they had removed from vehicles impounded after accidents, but we got them before they could escape,” said Sgt Prajuab. Captured were four boys, all aged 14 or 15, from Nai Thon. Seized as evidence were: three shock absorbers; two mufflers; one battery; two chain sprockets and two swingarms. Officers seized the boys’ three motorbikes and charged the youngsters with breaking and entering, and theft – and took them into custody. After the arrests, Sgt Prajuab unburdened his soul to reporters, explaining that these youthful thieves were costing hard-working cops money. “Most [of the thieves] are less than 20 years of age,” he said. “The impound lot has been hit dozens of times. As a result police have had to compensate irate vehicle owners from their own pockets for the cost of missing parts, which runs into millions of baht. “The kids who do it are not only children of ordinary householders, but offspring of police