PATTAYA — A hefty Swedish man snatched a motorcycle from a motorcycle taxi rider in Pattaya and rode away nonchalantly, but he didn’t get far. He crashed into another car, injuring himself.
CCTV footage captured the incident at 00:05 AM on June 2, in front of a kratom leaf shop on Soi Noen Plubwan, Nong Prue Subdistrict, Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province. A tall, white-skinned foreigner wearing white shorts and no shirt ran up from behind a motorcycle taxi rider, stole the motorcycle, and fled while the rider was caught off guard, stopping to buy something at the shop.
Mr. Teerasak Sonjoi, 33, the shop owner, said that he was playing a game on his mobile phone when suddenly a foreigner came from behind and stole the motorcycle from the taxi rider and fled. At first, he thought it was a prank, but later realized it was a theft because the foreigner had crashed into a resident’s car near the entrance of Soi Noen Plubwan and ran away.
Later, the Khaosod news team searched for the motorcycle taxi rider in the footage and found him in the Walking Street area of South Pattaya. His name is Mr. Tossaporn Meesamut, 45, wearing a taxi vest number 5. He said that he was driving to the taxi queue as usual. On the way before reaching the shop, he encountered this foreigner walking and waving, wearing only shorts. He refused to pick him up, unaware that the man was running after him.
As he was about to park his motorcycle in front of the shop, not far from the pickup point, the man ran up and shoulder-barged him from behind, causing him to stumble. The foreigner then jumped on the motorcycle, revved the engine, and drove away. Although he tried to chase after him, he couldn’t catch up.
Fortunately, a good citizen who was driving by witnessed the incident and pursued the foreigner, finding that he had crashed into a villager’s car and abandoned the motorcycle, running away towards Central Pattaya Road. Someone at the scene kept the key for him.
Later, when he saw this foreigner again, he told other motorcycle taxi riders to be cautious of this foreigner who had just stolen his motorcycle. But before he could finish speaking, the foreigner ran and stole another motorcycle from someone who had parked to buy rice porridge. The foreigner then crashed near Big C department store in Central Pattaya. He followed him to provide information. Shortly after, someone informed him that the foreigner had been apprehended by the police at a hotel in the Na Jomtien area, with a bandaged head.
A security guard in the Jomtien Pattaya area said that the man came to ask for help, claiming that he had been chased and assaulted. However, the guard noticed that the Yamaha Filano motorcycle with a Trang province license plate that the foreigner was riding had blood stains and scratches on the side, which looked suspicious. He then called the police at Na Jomtien Police Station.
The police then took the foreigner for further questioning at Na Jomtien Police Station. His name is Mr. Oliver, 34, a Swedish national. The driver of the car that was hit by the motorcycle confirmed that it was him, and it was discovered that he had previously stolen motorcycles. The police then detained him and sent him to the investigator, and questioned witnesses at the scene to proceed with legal action.
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