NO ESCAPE: The suspect being led away by police to the lockup following the incident.
KUCHING: A snatch thief was apprehended and handed over to the police following a failed attempt to rob a businessman of his sling bag at a commercial centre in Stampin.
The incident occurred around midnight Friday when the 47-year-old businessman and a friend were about to enter their car after having supper.
According to the victim, a lone motorcyclist grabbed his bag as he rode past but ended up tumbling off his machine when the former instinctively held onto his bag and yanked it back towards him.
“I was lucky because my bag’s leather strap did not snap when the thief grabbed it, which gave me the time to grab back my bag,” said the businessman, adding the thief then got back on his bike to escape but could not get the machine started.
Together with members of the public, the victim and his friend surrounded the thief who reached into a bag he was carrying and threw away what appeared to be drug paraphernalia onto the road.
The suspect, a 30-year-old from Matang, was handed over to the police and brought to the Simpang Tiga police station where initial investigation revealed previous arrest records for snatch theft and drug abuse.
A source also disclosed the suspect is believed to be responsible for several snatch theft cases in the same commercial centre this year.