Italian nurse arrested for theft

CHALONG: Angela Pucillo, 29, an Italian nurse, was arrested by Chalong Police on Saturday for stealing money from Mr Chijeo Inoo, a 29-year-old Japanese tourist. Pol Capt Thanate Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station said that Pucillo and Mr Inoo arrived in Bangkok on April 11 on the same flight. They decided to travel together. They took a bus to Phuket and booked into the On-On Hotel in Phuket Town on the morning of April 20. The following day, they went swimming at Kata Beach, taking turns watching each other’s belongings. Mr Inoo went parasailing and later discovered that 2,000 baht was missing from his wallet, along with 180,000 yen and US$900 (equivalent to 97,400 baht). At first, Mr Inoo did not suspect Pucillo. But on Saturday, before leaving for Phang-Nga, he went to Pucillo’s room and asked if he could look inside her wallet. In it, he found five new 10-dollar bank notes, all in series. He compared the numbers with the two bank notes left in his own wallet, and found that the numbers were consecutive. Pucillo told him that the notes were from her sister in Switzerland, but Mr Inoo did not believe her and called the tourist police. The police did not find any of the other missing notes in the room, so asked her to accompany them to Chalong Police Station. While being searched by two policemen’s wives, Pucillo refused to take off her pants. However, she did take out a plastic envelope containing the rest of Mr Inoo’s money. She confessed that she had stolen the money while Mr Inoo was parasailing. Pucillo is now in custody at Phuket Provincial Prison, awaiting trial.