BENTONG: The carjacking suspect who drove off with an elderly woman in a car at a petrol station on June 3 is an ex-convict who previously escaped from the centralised police lock-up in Kuantan.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the suspect, in his 40s, had six records for drug and criminal offences, and had been sentenced to jail.
The suspect was arrested while sleeping in a house at Kampung Chinta Manis in Karak near Bentong at 12.45am today.
"Several years ago, the suspect was detained at a centralised lock-up where he managed to escape. Based on police records, he served his jail sentence for drug offences and was released last year," he said in a press conference streamed live through Bentong police official Facebook page today.
Checks revealed that the suspect had escaped from the Indera Mahkota centralised lock-up in Kuantan in 2019, but was later re-arrested.
In the 3.10pm incident on Jun 3, the suspect rode a stolen motorcycle to the petrol station before jumping into an idling car with a senior citizen inside and driving off. He eventually released the old woman on the roadside after she put up a fight.
Speaking on the incident, Yahaya said the suspect was detained after police had gone to a house at Kampung Chinta Manis upon receiving information from the owner that a stranger had barged into his house at 10pm.
He said investigations revealed after stealing the car in Kuantan, the suspect later fitted it with a fake registration plate before travelling towards Bentong yesterday.
"Last night, he abandoned the stolen vehicle near a market in Karak town before walking to a house in Kampung Chinta Manis and knocking on the door. When the house owner opened the door, he barged into the premises.
"The suspect then locked up the house owner, his wife and three young children inside a room while he slept in the living room. The house owner managed to escape and call for help.
"The suspect was asleep when policemen arrived to capture him. He did not attempt to escape and policemen recovered some sharp objects, including a pen knife and scissors from the man," he said, adding that the stolen car was found not far from the house where the suspect was resting.
Yahaya said the suspect, who is from Kuantan, had tested positive for methamphetamine and was remanded for two days.
"Besides drug abuse, he is also probed under Section 379A of the Penal Code for vehicle theft involving the Honda City car and Honda EX-5 motorcycle in Kuantan (the motorcycle he rode to petrol station before stealing car), Section 448 of the Penal Code for trespassing and Section 6(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958," he said.
