A 62-year-old French expat in Patong has been charged with pulling a gun and firing it in the middle of a fight with a Russian tourist yesterday after the Russian left an expired passport as collateral for a rented motorbike.
Frenchman Gerard Pecherstorfer, who has lived in Phuket for 14 years, was taken into custody by Patong Traffic Police on Soi 51 at noon after police were informed about the shots fired in the neighborhood.
Pecherstorfer, who according to his Facebook profile was a member of French Foreign Legion from 1986 to 2002, had pulled a 9mm handgun during a fight with Russian tourist Sergey Antonov, Patong Police Chief Col. Chaiwat Uikum said.
The incident goes back to Jan. 19, when Antonov, of Moscow, and a friend rented a motorbike from Pecherstorfer’s wife.
“They rented a Honda PCX for one day and left Antonov’s passport as collateral,” he explained.
The men did not return the motorbike until Jan. 26, but paid the rental fee and asked to continue to rent the bike. When the men returned yesterday to continue renting the bike, Pecherstorfer’s wife said they couldn’t since she realized that that passport given as collateral had expired. The wife said they had to give her a valid passport, and Antonov, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday, said he would go back to his hotel to fetch his current one.
The wife asked Antonov’s friend to wait while Antonov got his passport, but after Antonov left on the rented motorbike, his friend ran away. The wife ran after him, but couldn’t catch him. Just then, Pecherstorfer returned from a trip to the bank, and so he and his wife took a motorbike to look for him,” Col. Chaiwat said.
They soon found Sergey on the motorbike on Soi 51, where Pecherstorfer pulled him over and they started arguing. The war of words escalated and Pecherstorfer claimed that the Russian struck him in the face, prompting Pecherstorfer to take the 9mm handgun out from under his motorbike seat and fire one shot into the ground.
Antonov then charged at Pecherstorfer and snatched the gun away from him. The gun fired during the struggle, but no one was hit.
Antonov wrestled his French adversary to the ground and waited for the police, who took both men to Patong Police Station. Antonov was charged with assault but Pecherstorfer faces a slew of gun charges.
“Pecherstorfer said he took a lot of money to the bank, so he took the gun with him. Police have confirmed that the gun is registered to his wife,” Col. Chaiwat explained.
Regardless, Pecherstorfer was charged with possession of another person’s firearm, carrying a firearm in a public place, and firing a gun in a public place, Col. Chaiwat confirmed.
Story: The Phuket News
