Nigerian arrested for burglaries in Phuket
Phuket police have arrested a Nigerian man for allegedly robbing and shooting a Russian woman in the island-province as well as breaking into several houses there.
Chijioke James Chukwunweike, 27, was arrested at a rented house in Moo 2 village in Tambon Rawai in Phuket’s Muang district on Thursday night. Police found a lot of valuables at the rented house, believed to have been stolen.
The Nigerian man denied robbing or attacking the Russian woman.
The woman, Elena Kharenko, said she woke up at around 3.30am on August 30 and saw burglars inside her luxurious house near the Rawai beach. She was shot when she shouted for help. The thieves carried away a safe box and other valuables.
Phuket police chief Pol Colonel Akanit Danphithaksat himself went to the Chalong Police Station to interrogate the suspect.
Several house owners in the Rawai area, whose houses had been burgled, also came to the police station to check the seized valuables. One of them, Sasithorn Temphan, 39, identified a Louis Vuitton handbag and two luxury watches as belonging to her.
