GEORGE TOWN: A 37-year-old man was arrested after a viral video showing him being detained by the public for allegedly trying to steal a motorcycle at Jalan Patani, here.
George Town OCPD Asst Comm Soffian Santong said the suspect was detained on Aug 3 after a police report was lodged against him by a 25-year-old man at Jalan Patani police station who reported that the suspect was trying to steal his motorcycle.
"Based on the investigation, the suspect acted aggressively which led to a scuffle with the public and he suffered injuries to his face," he said in a statement on Friday (Aug 5).
ACP Soffian said police detected four videos whose durations were between 4 seconds to a minute and 28 seconds which were uploaded to Twitter by someone using the handle "@nanmanjoi8715" showing the suspect in handcuffs.
ACP Soffian said checks found that the incident happened on Aug 3 at about 9am at Jalan Patani and the suspect was handed over to the police by the public.
"The suspect has been sent to Penang Hospital for treatment," he said, adding that the suspect has a criminal record with three prior criminal and drug offences.
He said urine checks conducted on the suspect were negative and the case was being investigated under Section 379A(1) and Section 511 of the Penal Code.
ACP Soffian called on any witnesses of the incident to come forward to help in the investigation and urged the public not to share the videos at any social media platform to avoid any speculation and not to touch on the sensitivities of other races.
