The Badung regional police have arrested a local man in connection with multiple incidents of laptop, PC, and printer theft from various Badung elementary schools.
Thirty-year old I Gusti Rai Sugiartha was intercepted while driving along Jl. Raya Kuanji in Dalung on Friday, but police say the encounter became violent when Sugiartha resisted arrest and officers were forced to fire a shot to the left leg.
“We were forced to take firm measures [firing a shot] because the perpetrator was fighting back when he was arrested,” said Made Pramasetia of the Badung Regional Police Criminal Investigation Unit today as quoted by Bali Post.
According to a report by Kompas, police seized laptops, PCs, LCD projectors, crowbars and four vehicles as evidence. Police had been working on the case since September last year when the first report of theft came through from a school in Mengwitani Village.
During police questioning, the perpetrator admitted to having committed 23 thefts in the Badung region. Sugiartha reportedly sold the stolen goods on to Denpasar resident Bagus Ferdian Hidayatulloh, 28, who has now also been secured by police.
For his actions, Sugiartha was threatened with Article 363 of the Criminal Code, with the threat of a maximum sentence of 12 years. While Hidayatulloh was threatened with Article 480 of the Criminal Code which carries a maximum sentence of 4 years.
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