Crime
Drunken Australian Jacob Saveisberg Arrested in Phuket for Stealing Two Prawns
PHUKET – Thai authorities have fined Australian 27-year-old Jacob Saveisberg who drunkenly stuffed two raw prawns into his pocket at a seafood restaurant on the picturesque island of Phuket.
A restaurant employee and police officers pursued Mr Saveisberg through the streets of Patong after he stole the prawns early Saturday morning, Phuketwan reported.
He was arrested on a party street and taken to a police station, where officers found the prawns in his pocket.
A police officer told the Thai website that the theft occurred as Mr Saveisberg walked along a beach road where the Tropica Bungalow Hotel’s restaurant displays its seafood for passers-by.
Another officer, Lt Thongpael Khurhom, told the Phuket Gazette: ‘He was taken to the Patong Police Station, where he confessed that he stole the prawns because he was very drunk.’
Because the restaurant did not file a formal complaint police decided not to charge him with theft, which carries a jail sentence and higher fine for those convicted.
Instead police handed him a fine of 500 baht (AUS$20 or £10) for being drunk and disorderly, and allowed him to leave.
Restaurant manager Aruni Mahasena, quoted by the Phuket Gazette, told the police: ‘The man walked through our restaurant and took two prawns.
Our staff asked him to put them back, but he refused and then disappeared onto Soi Bangla.