Crime
Polish Man Arrested for Blowing Up ATM Machine and Making off with Bt300,000
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BANGKOK – Police have arrested a 38 year-old Polish man accused of blowing up a Bangkok Bank ATM in Bangkok and stealing about Bt300,000 cash in the early morning of September 13.
Police said the man, identified as Staniszewski Grajan Pawel, 38, refused to talk to them in English and they had to ask the Polish Embassy for a translator.
He was charged with burglary and destroying barriers by using a vehicle to steal assets.
It was initially reported that National Police Chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda would hold a press conference about the arrest of Pawel, but the plan was cancelled as the suspect continued to deny the charges.
Moreover, because he refused to talk to police in English, they have had to ask for a translator from the Polish Embassy in Bangkok.
The embassy agreed to the request and said it would send a translator to join in the questioning of the suspect on Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect was nabbed during a raid at his apartment on Soi Ramkhamhaeng 50 after an investigation on CCTV footage led police to him.
Thai police suspect that Pawel has committed a similar crime in another country. He left Thailand for Cambodia two days after the robbery and returned to Bangkok just days before he was arrested.
Police seized a motorcycle that they suspected was used in the crime and forensic officers were collecting fingerprints and DNA samples, the source said.