KUCHING: Quick and relentless action by the public resulted in the arrest of a foreigner who stole a woman’s handbag from her car yesterday.
The incident took place around 7.30am in Satok when the victim, a 42-year-old woman, was walking towards her car after having dropped off her young son at a kindergarten there.
Another woman suddenly called out to her and said that a man had broken into her car and had stolen her purse, and pointed the victim at the direction the thief had taken.
She immediately got into her car and drove after the suspect, and came across him several metres away with the stolen purse in his possession.
Apparently recognising her car, the suspect took off towards a row of shop houses, but was pursued by the woman who called out to members of the public for help.
A mob numbering more than 20 persons soon joined in the pursuit and chased the suspect for more than 15 minutes as the latter tried in vain to escape.
He was finally cornered by a group of motorcyclist, who had also joined in the chase, and received a heavy dose of street justice before being handed over to arriving policemen. The stolen purse, along with its contents, was recovered not far away from where the suspect — identified as a 21-year-old Indonesian — had discarded it while he was being pursued.
He was first taken to the Sarawak General Hospital for a checkup before being detained for further investigation.