A Japanese woman was arrested at the Wong Wiang Yai roundabout after stealing a rescue truck from a rescue worker in front of Lumpini police station in Bangkok on Sunday morning.
Pisut Chukliang, a 50-year-old rescue worker at the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, said the woman stole his truck at about 8.10am while he was giving first aid to a man, having left his unlocked rescue truck with its engine idling and its hazard lights on.
He said an eyewitness told him that the woman first tried to steal a police car but its key was not inside. Instead, she moved to his rescue truck that was parked next to the police car.
A network of rescue workers was alerted to the theft and a team stopped the stolen truck and arrested the woman at the Wong Wian Yai roundabout in Thon Buri district about 20 minutes after the theft.
Rescue worker Lertchai Narintarakul na Ayutthaya said that while his team subdued the Japanese woman, she was panicking and shouting in Japanese. They had to tie her hands and then tried to calm her down.
The woman had 200-300 baht in cash and a lottery ticket, he said.
Pol Col Yingyot Suwanno, chief of the Lumpini police station, said the woman was initially charged with theft and illegal immigration because she did not have visa documentation.