Chiang Mai, Police spent just over 6 hours tracking down a man who robbed a gold shop in a famous Chiang Mai shopping mall alone and made off with 80 baht worth of gold. It was found that the man had been planning the crime for years, using a fake identity to steal a car and blame the deceased.
Nipitphon, 26, the suspect in the gold robbery at a gold shop in a famous shopping mall in Chiang Mai Province, was detained at Mae Ping Police Station in Chiang Mai Province in an exhausted state after being arrested at his residence in Doi Saket District yesterday evening. He was taken to identify the location where the body of Lieutenant Suthep Chainanta, the owner of the car that stole the sedan to rob the gold, was dumped in the forest along Doi Suthep Road before reaching Wat Phalat. From the interrogation, it was found that Nipitphon, the suspect, confessed to parking his car at the Kalae Reservoir at the foot of Doi Suthep and walking along the forest trail through the foot of Doi Suthep on the other side. Th
en he called the deceased’s Grab car in the early morning and forced the deceased to get out of the car. However, the deceased refused, so he shot the deceased in the car. Then he dumped the body in the forest on the side of the road. Then he took the deceased’s sedan to rob the gold at the famous shopping mall before noon yesterday (8 July 2014). It took only 1 minute and 44 seconds to steal approximately 80 baht of gold before driving the car to abandon it on the way up Doi Suthep. Then he walked to get his own car that was parked and took the gold to sell around Chiang Mai city, but no one bought it because it had a stamp from the shop that had the gold stolen. So he took it to sell in the outer districts, 2 necklaces, total weight 10 baht, and then drove back home until he was arrested. The police found another 70 baht worth of stolen gold buried around the house.
Pol Maj Gen Thawatchai Phongwiwatchai, Commander of Chiang Mai Provincial Police, revealed that the suspect confessed to planning for years an
d had checked out the area several times because he was in debt from a pyramid scheme worth millions of baht. He therefore decided to commit the crime by impersonating the victim to steal the car and blame it on her. He was preparing to flee to live abroad, but he was not able to escape and was arrested in just over 6 hours. The police charged him with robbery using a vehicle, premeditated murder, and carrying a firearm. If the suspect agrees, he will be taken to reenact the crime according to his confession and then detained in court.
Source: Thai News Agency