Three arrested for ‘copycat’ bank robbery in Nonthaburi using fake bomb
Police have arrested two men and a teenager for allegedly robbing a Nonthaburi bank of Bt300,000 using a fake bomb in a crime one suspect said they had copied from a video clip that when viral on YouTube.
Provincial Police Bureau 1 deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Thanayut Wutthitratthamrong and Nonthaburi police chief Pol Maj-General Susak Prakkamakul announced the arrests on Monday.
The suspects were identified as Somkiart Udombitisakul, 37, his 17-year-old-son, and Wanchai Khunsri, 37.
They are accused of using a fake bomb to rob a branch of the Thanachart Bank at Centre Point near the Central West Gate in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district on April 20, making off with Bt301,660.
Police seized the fake bomb but retrieved only Bt2,880 from the suspects, who claimed they had spent the rest of the money.
Following the robbery, police checked CCTV footage and saw two robbers flee in a car. A licence-plate check confirmed that the car belonged to Wanchai, who was arrested at his house in Pathum Thani on Thursday.
Wanchai later implicated the father and the son who were arrested at their rented room in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district on Saturday.
Somkiart said they got the idea of using a fake bomb to rob the bank after watching the bank robbery video on YouTube.
He was released from Pathum Thani prison in August last year after serving time for theft. His son was charged in a drug-trafficking case in 2014. Wanchai was released from jail in 2015 after serving a sentence for stealing a motorcycle.