The incident first took place at Hassock Shop, on Srisoonthorn Rd near Tha Rua Shrine in Srisoonthorn, and was recorded on CCTV in front of a motorbike shop at 10:36 am on Jan 19. The footage showed a man riding a scooter, dismount, and steal an air compressor and a crash helmet.
Later, the same thief was filmed again by CCTV footage. The footage was posted online earlier this week (Feb 3), showing a man riding an identical scooter, dismount, and steal an amplifier, TV, and some speakers.
Col Bandit in a public statement said, “We followed this case on social media (Facebook) as many people throughout Phuket followed, shared, and commented, causing the footage to go viral after Hassocks shop who originally posted the video from their CCTV offered a reward of B5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the thief.
"We believed the man to be the same individual and were determined to stop him as he was causing fear in the surrounding area."
Yesterday (Feb 7), Col Bandit and a team of investigators followed up on leads where police were led to the thief, a Mr Natthapong ‘Pop’ Rujakom, 31, from Lop Buri Province who is now in custody."
“We arrested him while he was hiding in abandon home" Col Bandit added. Police officials declined to specify the exact location.
“Natthapong admitted guilt in all charges in both cases and has been charged with burglary, ” Col Bandit added.