Serial backhoe thief arrested

Serial backhoe thief arrested

BANGKOK - Police have arrested a thief who went to guarded construction sites, posed as the owner of onsite backhoes and then drove off with them.

City police chief, Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Thupkrachang, said police arrested Suta Chobkla, 53, and seized a backhoe, worth about one million baht.

Police said a man was caught on surveillance camera stealing a backhoe from a construction site in Klong Tan area on Jan 15. He drove the backhoe up on to his 10-wheel truck and drove away.

The police traced the truck's owner and tracked down the backhoe, which had already been sold to a shop for 40,000 baht by as metal scrap based on its weight.

The truck driver, whose name was not disclosed, told police that Mr Suta hired him to pick up the backhoe from the site. He was paid 4000 baht for the job.

Mr Suta was later apprehended in Pathumwan area. He admitted to have stolen a total of five backhoes from building sites around the city and stripping them down into metal parts.

He  said he would scout out a site and return at night, pretend to be the owner of a backhoe, or a representative of the company that owned it. He then loaded on a 10-wheeler he hired for the job.

Mr Suta was released from prison in August last year and in December he stole metal sheets covering drainage to sell as scrap, police said.

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