IPOH: The man who was previously spotted holding a machete in a viral video has been arrested by police after being believed to be involved in a case of stealing a car battery and children's toy motorcycles.
Ipoh District Police Chief, Asst Comm, Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the 28-year-old local suspect was arrested at around 7.30pm in the Simpang Empat Traffic Light Junction area of Jalan Raja Ekram, Taman Jubilee, following a theft report received on Thursday (Feb 6), reported Sinar Harian.
According to him, the report was made by a 35-year-old housewife who found several of her belongings missing in front of her house in Hala Kuala Kangsar.
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"Investigations found that the theft occurred on Jan 25 when an individual in a brown car stopped in front of the complainant's house before taking the car battery and two children's toy motorcycles.
"The woman only realised the items were missing on February 3 after checking the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage," he told reporters on Friday (Feb 6).
He said that further investigation found that the individual involved in this theft case was the same suspect who was spotted in the viral video holding a machete and making rude gestures towards the public.
He said that the results of the check found that the suspect had a past criminal record involving five criminal cases and three narcotics cases.
"In this arrest, the police also seized a car, as well as a set of keys and a remote control," he said.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 6(1) of the Corrosive Substances, Explosives and Dangerous Weapons Act 1958 and Section 509 of the Penal Code.
"An investigation into the theft case is being conducted under Section 379 of the Penal Code, involving an estimated loss of approximately RM500," he said.
On Thursday, the police announced that they had identified the individual holding the machete in the approximately 25-second video, which was recorded on January 15 before being uploaded and going viral on social media on Thursday.
He said that although the machete was not used as a weapon to make a direct threat, the act had caused discomfort among the public who watched the video.
