As we have been reporting in recent weeks there has been a spate of bag snatching and similar incidents. On Tuesday 30th September one hapless criminal met his end in bizarre fashion. After snatching a woman’s bag on the East West Highway or Vo Van Kiet as it is named, two men were pursued by police, who, on hearing the woman’s screams, chased after them. To try and escape they jumped into the Tau Hu canal.
By the time police got to them one of the men had drowned. Police arrested the other man and took him into custody. The two men had set off on a motorbike but as the police chased them down, they ditched the bike and tried their desperate escape on foot. The dead man has been named as Huynh Van Thanh aged 25, he was identified by his ID card. His tattooed, bare-chested body was recovered from the canal as a large crowd gathered to watch.
Back at the scene of the robbery, on Tan Da Street in District 5, eye witnesses said that the two men had staged a road accident to entrap their victim. When she stopped they grabbed her bag and fled. Criminal police officers who happened to be close by, heard the woman’s screams and gave chase. They have not yet released the name of the arrested man. Investigations are continuing.
