The Bali Provincial Police arrested an alleged thief who confessed to targeting mainly foreign tourists from his considerably long list of victims.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old university student Mohammad Amin, was arrested in Karangasem in the early hours of Thursday. Police say that an officer shot him in the leg to stop him from running away.
The arrest came after a Russian tourist, identified only as Bogban, filed a report with the police after Amin snatched his phone in Canggu last Sunday. According to the police, Bogban was driving his motorcycle at around 3am on Jalan Raya Batubelig when he stopped to take out his phone to help navigate his way back to the villa where he was staying.
Amin drove his motorcycle from behind Bogban and snatched the Russian’s phone. A chase ensued between the two, during which time Amin fell after he crashed his vehicle into a pole. Amin managed to get back up and escape.
However, Bogban picked up Amin’s license plate, which fell off during the collision, which was then used by the police to identify and locate Amin.
“From our investigation and questioning of witnesses we determined that the culprit was in Karangasem. So our officers hurried to Karangasem and apprehended the suspect,” Grand Commissioner Andi Fairan, who heads the Bali Provincial Police General Crimes Unit, told Radar Bali yesterday.
Following his arrest, Amin confessed to snatching Bogban’s phone and stealing from at least 18 people in total, most of them foreign tourists. Police seized eight stolen cell phones from the suspect and the motorcycle he used in his chase with Bogban.
Under Indonesia’s Criminal Code, theft is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
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