Knife-wielding man taken into safe custody on Soi Ta-iad
POLICE ON MONDAY (Dec 18) took a Russian man into custody on Soi Ta-iad in Chalong after he brandished a nine-inch knife and stormed along the street.
Police arrived at the scene shortly before 4:30pm to find the man, in obvious emotional distress, still walking along the street. Traffic had ground to a standstill as the man had parked his motorbike in the middle of the small soi.
Crowds of onlookers mostly kept a safe distance, though many stood to record the incident unfolding on their mobile phones.
When police had enough numbers to safely take the man into custody, one of the officers pulled out his gun and pointed it at the man and shouted repeatedly, in English, “Get down!”
The man complied, and several officers moved in to disarm him, handcuff him and empty his pockets while he was still on the ground.
Due to the man’s size, five officers had moved in to take the man into custody.
The man did not resist arrest. He spoke in what some onlookers said was Russian.
At time of press, the reasons for the man’s behaviour had yet to be made clear. The man appeared to be in a heightened state of tearful rage and anguish.
One man who went forward to help translate the man’s words for police showed sympathy for the man’s condition, and asked onlookers to stop recording videos on their phones.
Police later confirmed that the man, a Russian national, was staying at a guest accommodation off Soi Ta-iad. He had most recently entered the country by boat on Nov 29 a visa entry that allowed him to stay 90 days.
The Phuket News