North Kuta Police managed to apprehend an alleged bag snatcher just hours after police received a report from a Latvian woman about the crime.
In her report, the woman claimed she had been passing through Jl. Tanah Barak in North Kuta on Thursday night when she was suddenly stopped by a man riding a motorbike with the plate DK 5899 RO. She said the man pulled on her shirt and knocked her off her bike and that he grabbed her bag when she fell to the road.
“When the victim’s bag was thrown in the Batu Belig area, he took money and an iphone,” North Kuta Crime Unit Chief Insp. Julkipli Ritona told Metro Bali.
Police then apparently acted on the report after the woman filed it the next day and were led to roving fruit vendor Nanang Haryono, 28. They arrested him at a kos on Jl. Gunung Guntur, West Denpasar on Friday at approximately 10 pm.
Haryono’s motive? He claims he was drunk and it was a spontaneous crime inspired by opportunity and it hadn’t been premeditated.
However, Ritona says he doesn’t buy Haryono’s excuse and believes this likely isn’t his first jambret (snatching) offense.
“His confession was that he never bag snatched before. We are still investigating further. It is probable that there is still another instance,” Ritona said.
