Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
A young man was recently arrested for stealing more than two million baht of valuables using Google technology.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the high-tech robbery.
Khon Kaen authorities on August 16 arrested a man for allegedly using Google Maps Street View to break into more than 100 houses and steal valuables worth more than two million baht.
The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Thotsawat Lert-arayakul, a Nakhon Ratchasima native, was apprehended at his apartment.
VALUABLE STASH
Police also impounded a motorcycle, a mobile phone, gold ornaments, electrical appliances, diamond rings, watches and over 140 valuable items worth more than two million baht in total.
According to police commissioner Boonlert Jaipradit, an investigation was launched after a number of luxury housing estate residents lodged burglary and theft complaints with police at the beginning of August.
Local authorities examined CCTV footage, collected fingerprints and also questioned several pawnshop operators. They found a number had bought personal property from the same group of men numerous times.
Police concluded that all of the burglaries were by the same person, and arrested Thotsawat.
LUXURY TARGETS
The man confessed he had been burgling houses since March last year, officers said, targeting only those in luxury estates where occupants rarely stayed home and had fixed schedules for leaving and returning.
Thotsawat admitted to using Google Maps Street View to inspect homes before each robbery, adding that most modern housing estates feature low-level walls and fences. He said he gave stolen valuables to four accomplices to sell to pawnshops. The accomplices remain at large.
Thotsawat took only five to 10 minutes to break into targeted houses, Boonlert said, as he had experience working in aluminium shops and knew how to remove latches.
Exercises
Read the story and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Thotsawat is in his twenties.
……………….
2. Thotsawat is from Nakhon Pathom.
……………….
3. Officers said Thotsawat confessed that he had been burgling houses since March this year.
……………….
4. Thotsawat was arrested in Nakhon Ratchasima.
……………….
Vocabulary
- ornament (n): an object that is worn as jewellery
pawnshop (n): a shop which lends a person money in exchange for articles left with them
burglary (n): the crime of entering a building illegally and stealing things from it
latch (n): a type of lock on a door that needs a key to open it
