Police hunted down a Bali helmet thief with a little help from CCTV footage in Seminyak.
Dominggus Ngungubulu, who had been working as a garbage collector, was arrested by a team from Kuta Police, law enforcement announced on Monday.
“Based on CCTV monitoring, it became known that the garbage collector came to the security post and took the helmet,” Kuta Police Chief Nyoman Wirajaya said on Monday, as quoted by Detik.
The helmet-stealing incident occurred on May 20. The owner of the helmet, Eko Saputra had entrusted his helmet and jacket at the security post of the restaurant where he worked on Jl. Kayu Cendana, Seminyak.
Ngungubulu also reportedly stole Saputra’s jacket.
Helmet theft is all too common in Bali, where thieves steal helmets from parked motorbikes and make cash from reselling them—though they usually do so from parking places where security are not on duty. Not only do we have it in for helmet thieves for taking what’s not theirs, but we’ve also got to point out how despicable it is to take something that leaves the subject of the theft in danger. Not cool to be left without a protected head on the road (and it’s also a violation of traffic rules to drive without a helmet in Bali).
Helmets for sale in Bali usually run from IDR150k (US$10.50) to IDR300k (US$21), depending on the brand.
Ngungubulu had reverted to theft during a desperate time because he wanted to resell the helmet and needed the money to pay a traffic ticket, according to Kuta Police Criminal Investigation Unit Insp. Aan Saputra.
“During interrogation, he admitted that he was selling the helmet, that he needed the money to pay for a traffic ticket,” Saputra said.
Police confiscated the DYR brand helmet and a black jacket as evidence. Ngungubulu will be charged under article 362 of the Criminal Code, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years prison.
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