Sabah woman in high-speed chase seen in video of suspected car theft

KOTA KINABALU: The dramatic high-speed car chase across the city involving a local woman in a stolen vehicle may have long come to a halt but videos are surfacing of the suspect, who is now under remand.

In one of the videos, the 35-year-old is believed to be seen coolly stealing the black four-wheel drive pickup from a cafe.

The video uploaded on various Facebook pages shows her cleaning the interior of the vehicle with a man in the background telling her not to "disturb the customer's car".

Another footage from the CCTV clip shows the vehicle being driven away from the parking area of an unidentified cafe here.

The owner of the vehicle had reported the car stolen on Saturday (Feb 12).

However, the exact location of the theft and how the suspect had obtained the keys to the vehicle could not be ascertained.

Kota Kinabalu City deputy police chief Supt George Rakman said on Wednesday (Feb 16) that the videos would be used in their investigation but declined to elaborate.

Police believe that the woman was high on drugs when she drove through the city, ramming several vehicles and a roadblock, to avoid being arrested, on Monday (Feb 14).

Supt George said the police were still ascertaining the cause of her action and investigating the case from all angles.

He added that they were not referring her to any psychiatric evaluation for the time being.

The woman is under remand until Feb 21 to facilitate police in their investigation for attempted murder among other offences.

One of the policemen suffered light injuries after he fell into a drain when the suspect allegedly reversed the car to escape them.

Police eventually had to shoot at the tyre of the vehicle to stop her from causing more damage before apprehending her.

The approximately 15km high-speed chase from the city centre to the Manggatal suburb area was triggered after the police were alerted to the vehicle by its owner who called to say he had spotted his stolen car near the central market here.

So far, only two vehicle owners who were affected in the incident have come forward to lodge reports.