Naruebet Suthikaw and
Thanatpol Thongtha, along with 5 underage teens, have been arrested for
a string of gas station robberies.
Boonlua Chatree
Provincial and local police arrested seven people - five of them
underage - for allegedly robbing a string of petrol stations in
Banglamung and Sriracha.
Banglamung and Chonburi officers Aug. 16 announced the arrest of
Naruebet Suthikaw, 23, Thanatpol Thongtha, 18, four 16-year-olds and a
15-year-old, along with the seizure of a 38-caliber homemade gun, three
motorbikes and 30,000 baht cash.
The money was all that was left from four robberies that allegedly
netted the motorcycle gang 74,000 baht Aug. 14-15.
Around 3:50 a.m. Aug. 14 the D-Gas station in Sriracha was hit with
thieves getting away with 5,000 baht. Then minutes later, the same gang
knocked over another gas station, again getting away with 5,000 baht.
The following day, around 3:30 a.m., a gang on motorbikes - suspected to
be the same ones as in the Sriracha robberies - robbed a Petronas
station of 39,000 baht. About five minutes later, thieves escaped with
25,000 baht from the Esso station, both in Banglamung.
Police said they put out word among gas station operators in order to
track down the thieves. The next afternoon they located one of the
16-year-old boys at Naklua’s Chinese cemetery. He ratted out of gang
members who were rounded up at various Pattaya-area entertainment
venues.
Police said Naruebet was the gang leader and he confessed to targeting
gas stations in quiet areas, then sending in minor-age teens to do the
robberies.
Proceeds from the robberies were split among members, who blew the cash
on motorbike upgrades, playing Internet games and hanging out at
entertainment venues.
They all were charged with armed robberies and illegal weapons
possession.
