Snatch thieves are impersonating p-hailing riders to get closer to targets

Thieves, scam artists and swindlers come in all shapes and forms these days, with the latest one disguising himself as a p-hailing rider where actually he was just a snatch thief preying on people walking on the road.

According to a report by The Star, this p-hailing snatch thief looked like a food delivery rider going about his daily errands, but that was only a front to carry out some mischief.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid said police were alerted about this man, after a member of a public lodged a report that his mobile phone was snatched while walking near Plaza 33 here on Feb 21.

Picture credit: The Star

“The 25-year-old victim said the suspect was riding a motorcycle with a food delivery bag,” he told reporters at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters recently.

“About two hours later, we arrested a 32-year-old man at Kampung Pantai Dalam in Kuala Lumpur and seized what is believed to be the stolen phone,” he said.

Abdul Hamid also said that the suspect confessed to being involved in the snatching incident that they had been pursuing. The suspect also confessed to selling stolen mobile phones to another accomplice who is now at large.

"Based on the information from the first suspect, the police made another raid and managed to arrest a 32-year-old local man in Kampung Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur.

"The investigation on the suspect led to the confiscation of an iPhone, suspected to belong to a victim."

The case is being investigated under Section 392 of the Penal Code and a review found that the first suspect has three previous records related to robbery and vehicle theft.