A snatcher tried to not tell his real name and age when he's caught after snatching a backpack from a foreigner

Phnom Penh: The police in Daun Penh district decided to send the suspect to Phnom Penh court after he's caught when he was trying to snatch a backpack from a foreigner. At first, the suspect didn't tell his real name and age the police. He said he was a minor, in fact he is not.

The suspect was arrested around 12:20 am on 20 May 2015 at street 178 conner of street 19 in Chaychumnas commune, Daun Penh district.

The suspect names Leak Samrith, male 14 years old and he told the police that his name was Kong Samrith, 13 years old living Sen Sok village, Khamouch commune, Sen Sok district.

The victim names Aoife King, female, 22 years old, Icelander, businesswoman, she is living in a rented house in Chaychumnas commune, Daun Penh district.

Police said, before the incident happened around the middle of the night, the foreigner was walking from a store on street 172 then when she was walking on the street 178 conner of street 19, there was a group of three gangsters riding a motorbike toward her. One of them (the suspect) jumped off from the motorbike and tried to snatch the victim's backpack. So she screamed out loud, fortunately there were some polices patrolling down there. They came and caught the suspect. The other two suspects fled and left behind a motorbike ( Bran Pulsar) with no plate number. The backpack was returned to the victim
later.

Police continued. After the arrest, the suspect tried to tell police the wrong name and age. He said he was 13 years old, then after the research, police found out he is 14 years which is a legal age to be detained.



Engrish

CEOCambodiaNews wrote:Police said, before the incident happened around the middle of the night, the foreigner was walking from a store on street 172 then when she was walking on th street 78 conner of street 19, there was a group of three gangsters riding a motorbike toward her.

Sounds like 78 is actually 178. There's been a whole lot of snatching going on there.

I know the girl in question (she's Irish, not Icelandic btw) I think it's the second time in a week this has happened, although the first time she got her bag nicked. Poor girl.

1.It sounds like she's being careless.

2. Feel sorry for that kid.

vladimir wrote:
2. Feel sorry for that kid.

This.

CEOCambodiaNews wrote:...the incident happened around the middle of the night...
...fortunately there were some polices patrolling down there.

That right there is just odd!

vladimir wrote:1.It sounds like she's being careless.

2. Feel sorry for that kid.

One of them (the suspect) jumped off from the motorbike and tried to snatch the victim's backpack.

It doesn't sound like she was being careless. You can't do much do in the way of preventative practices like carrying your bag more carefully if the thief is going to get off the bike and confront you personally in a tourist district in broad daylight.

But yes, he is very young, as many of the thieves that are being caught seem to be. I've seen several of these snatch&grab thefts over the years, and none of them involved young kids like this. I wonder why? Is it just a fluke? Are there more young kids doing it now? Are they easier to catch?

But whatever, too young to get caught up in this sort of thing. Poor kid. Wonder what'll happen to him.

My Khmer mate tells me that thieves and bent cops team up and if you give chase, the cop gets in the way, with the spoils shared between them. He's pointed out a number of these teams to me, seems to be on the money. Not saying that's what happened here, but how suspicious is it that coppers just happened to be on hand and made an arrest at that time of night?

StroppyChops wrote:My Khmer mate tells me that thieves and bent cops team up and if you give chase, the cop gets in the way, with the spoils shared between them. He's pointed out a number of these teams to me, seems to be on the money. Not saying that's what happened here, but how suspicious is it that coppers just happened to be on hand and made an arrest at that time of night?

Then why did they make the arrest instead of getting in the way? Your explanation sounds reasonable up until the point that the police did their jobs.

It's not unusual for officers to sit and drink around the area. There are plenty of small restaurants and it's close to the 172 action.

BOFH wrote:Then why...

You may have missed where I acknowledged its possibly not what happened in this case.