Record check showed suspect in Kanchanaburi incident had been sacked from force over murder case
PUBLISHED : 27 Jul 2023 at 20:31
A former police officer arrested in Lampang on charges of stealing a pickup truck in Kanchanaburi was found to have been the subject of a double murder investigation that led to his dismissal from the force nine years ago, authorities say.
Highway police arrested Banthoeng Taeng-on, 51, at the Sop Prap drug checkpoint in Lampang on Thursday while he was riding in an interprovincial bus to Bangkok.
He was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Kanchanaburi provincial court on July 25 for colluding in theft and illegal detention.
Mr Banthoeng and and an accomplice, also a former police officer, were accused of stealing a Toyota Hilux Revo pickup truck from Jeerawat Chamnarnvet, 25, a soybean drink vendor in Kanchanaburi, on Monday night. The pair also assaulted the victim using an electric shock device and robbed him of 3,000 baht. The stolen pickup was later found in the car park of a shopping mall in Chiang Mai.
During questioning, Mr Banthoeng admitted to having plotted with a friend to commit the crime before they fled separately.
A criminal record check showed that he had served in the police force before being fired after his arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of two people in 2014. He was handed over to the Tha Rua police station in Kanchanaburi.
His alleged accomplice in the pickup theft, Patiwat Banthoengsomwang, 51, was arrested in Kanchanaburi. He was formerly attached to the Muang district police station but was fired from the force in 2021 for his involvement with drugs.