Police have finally caught a pair of thieves terrorizing soccer fans at Captain Wayan Dipta Stadium in Gianyar, Bali.
And by terrorizing, we mean annoyingly stealing scores of helmets off parked motorbikes. Yes, another pair of thieves specializing in helmet stealing.
Apparently there was a case of helmet theft at every recent match played at the Gianyar stadium, and pecalang were never able to catch the culprits until Sunday.
Mavtuh Basuki Putra, 21, and Okik Darma Dewata, 22, of West Denpasar stole 29 helmets from the last three games at the stadium, according to Tribun Bali.
When the pecalang caught the pair on Sunday, they quickly called the police to come get them—carefully trying to avoid any sort of street justice in the form of an angry mob which is oh-so-common in Indonesia. And can you imagine how intense a mob made up of passionate football fans could get?
“The pecalang quickly handed them over to us. If the fans caught them, they would definitely have beaten them,” Gianyar Polres Inspector I Gusti Ngurah Winagun told Tribun Bali.
Putra and Okik confessed to selling the stolen helmets online, when questioned by police.
When stealing helmets, one of them would be on the lookout, while the other would snatch a helmet, often disconnecting them from those built-in hooks shut under motorbike seats. Then they would toss the helmets in the bushes to hide them in plastic bags.
