PETALING JAYA: A thief who turned up at a petrol station in Kuantan on a stolen motorcycle switched gears and stole a red Honda City with a senior citizen seated inside.
In the 3.10pm incident in Semambu, the 66-year-old victim was in the front passenger seat when the suspect got into the vehicle and drove off with her. She was later dropped off unharmed some 400 metres from the station.
According to New Straits Times, a 55-second closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the petrol station captured the entire incident and went viral on social networks.
Kuantan district police chief Assistant Commissioner Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said the victim was accompanied by her husband, 77, and daughter, 38.
They had stopped to refuel their vehicle and use the restrooms.
While the daughter refuelled the car, the victim and her husband used the restrooms.
“The victim and her husband had gone to the washroom while their daughter was refuelling the car.
The daughter later parked the car near the toilet before her mother returned to the vehicle.
“Her daughter left the ignition switched on while she walked to the nearby toilet. Seconds later, she heard her mother screaming for help and saw someone driving the car away with her mother still inside,“ Wan Zahari was quoted as saying.
He added that investigations revealed that the thief arrived on a stolen Honda EX-5 with a fake registration number.
Police are investigating the incident under Section 379A of the Penal Code for vehicle theft.
