Phatthalung psychiatric patient kidnaps nurse at knifepoint
A psychiatric patient allegedly threatened a nurse with a knife and forced her into a car before fleeing from Srinakarin Hospital in Phatthalung, yesterday, March 18, before leaving her by the roadside.
Police at Srinagarindra Police Station were alerted by the hospital that a patient showing psychiatric symptoms linked to drug use had been brought in for treatment. While staff were preparing to move him for care, the man allegedly held a nurse at knifepoint, made her get into a vehicle and drove away.
The patient was identified as 26 year old Nattawut, and the nurse was identified as 53 year old Prakhong, a nurse working in the hospital’s psychiatric unit.
Officers launched a pursuit and later found Prakhong after she was left by the roadside about two kilometres from the hospital. She was not physically harmed and was escorted back to the hospital before filing a complaint.
Police later followed Nattawut to his home in Ban Na subdistrict, where they found the red car used to leave the hospital. Neighbours told officers he parked the car and quickly rode away on a motorcycle.
Investigators have not located the suspect at the time of reporting. They noted that Nattawut had previously shown mental health symptoms linked to long-term substance use.
Khaosod reported that earlier in the afternoon, he allegedly caused property damage, prompting his mother to contact police and hospital staff to have him taken for treatment.
Officers initially planned to restrain him, but his mother objected, saying he had not harmed anyone. Officers then advised that he travel by ambulance to see a doctor, but the mother said she would drive him herself, with police following behind.
At the hospital’s emergency room, as staff were placing him on a bed for tests, Nattawut allegedly pulled out a short knife. He then forced Prakhong out of the room, took the vehicle keys from his mother and drove away with the nurse.
Elsewhere, a mentally ill Thai man turned himself in after breaking into a neighbour’s home in Nakhon Si Thammarat and attacking a woman and her teenage daughter with a knife. Both victims were reported to be in critical condition.
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