Highway police were in hot pursuit of a motorist who refused to pay 500 baht for petrol at a service station in Samut Sakhon province today.
The car chase, from Samut Sakhon through Ratchaburi and Phetchaburi, lasted for several hour. The suspect car was stopped at an intersection in Pran Buri district of Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Highway police in Samut Sakhon were alerted, by the owner of the petrol station, to the customer who had refused to pay and had fled in bronze-coloured car. The police in pursuit asked colleagues in Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri to stop the suspect’s car.
The driver managed to dodge police road blocks, scratching some cars in the process, until he was stopped at the Pran Buri intersection.
The police then moved in and arrested the middle-aged driver. The male suspect, whose name was withheld, claimed that he was heading home to Trang province and did not have any money when he drove into the petrol station fill up.
Police checked his criminal record and discovered that the suspect has previously been charged with theft on nine other occasions.
The owner of the petrol station said that the station had a similar problem on May 5th, when a driver drove away without paying 900 baht for fuel.
