Gold shop robbed by officer from investigating police station

A policeman’s swagger was the downfall that led to the identification and subsequent arrest of a gold jewellery shop robber today in the Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima. A man dressed in a food delivery outfit robbed a gold shop and shot the shop owner on Wednesday and was later identified as a local police officer.

The robber entered the Yaowarat gold shop at the Pak Chong branch of Big C shopping centre wearing a pink food delivery shirt and baring a 9mm pistol which he used to intimidate the employees. The 39 year old owner was in the shop at the time and was resistant to the police officer’s robbery attempt, which resulted in the assailant firing a shot through the owner’s left arm. The gunshot passed through his arm and into his back, causing a serious wound.

The thieving police officer managed to nab 126 baht weight of gold jewellery from the shop, valued at around 3.5 million baht, mostly in gold necklaces. He fled the shop after the grab and gunshot and took off on a motorcycle.

Police at the Pak Chong police station examined CCTV footage from the security cameras throughout the Big C shopping centre looking for clues as to the identity of the criminal. It was then that the superintendent of the station noticed that the gold shop robber walked in a manner similar to the way Pol Cpl Anucha Boon-arak walked around the same Pak Chong Police station he ran. And, though masked, the robber did bear a striking resemblance to the 25 year old local officer.

The station police were joined by investigators from the Provincial Police Region 3 to track down the suspect after he did not respond to any contact efforts. He was arrested in his home nearby today. When he was interrogated, police say he admitted to committing the crime and even revealed where he had hidden the loot.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post