Ex-convict arrested for alleged series of burglaries
An ex-prison inmate has been arrested for allegedly breaking into rented rooms in Bangkok on numerous occasions to steal valuables, police said on Tuesday, estimating that the suspect might have committed almost 50 burglaries in total across several jurisdictions in recent years.
Pol Maj-General Mongkol Waroonno, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 5, told a press conference at Klong Tan police station that Niphat Prapin, 42, had been arrested at 1pm on Monday on Soi Onnuj 46 in Suan Luang district.
He was arrested under a Phra Khanong Court arrest warrant dated May 23.
Mongkol said the arrest came after a resident of an apartment building on Soi Pattanakarn 39 in Suan Luang filed a complaint with Klong Tan police on May 10 that her room had been broken into.
The victim lost her MacBook computer and a Fujifilm digital camera in the robbery.
Mongkol said police checked footage of security cameras and saw Niphat’s face clearly in the images.
They later learned that he was living on Soi Onnuj 46.
Niphat told police he had served a jail term for burglary in Prachuap Khiri Khan, and was released in 2016.
He also reportedly said he was unemployed and therefore had to return to committing burglaries.
He said he would pretend to be a parcel delivery man in order to gain entry to apartment buildings, and would then select the rooms whose tenants were away, according to police.
He claimed he had broken into rooms four or five times, but police believe he has committed some 50 thefts in total as he is also wanted on theft cases in the jurisdictions of Yannawa, Phra Khanong and Makkasan police stations in Bangkok, Bueng Koom police station, and Hua Hin police station in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
