KEDAH, MALAYSIA — To seal a potential sale of vehicles, dealers will always offer a test drive for customers so that they can experience what their dream car feels like on the road. But one such potential customer in Malaysia took the opportunity of such goodwill in an attempt to drive off with a four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicle from a used car dealer instead.
The incident happened on Tuesday (17 Jan) in Alor Setar, the state capital of Malaysia’s Northern state Kedah where a man visited a used car dealer shop at about 10.30 am and told the shop owner that he wanted to buy a Toyota branded Hilux 4WD vehicle.
Unsuspecting the intention of the man, the dealer allowed him to test drive the vehicle. But instead of going on a test drive, the man drove away with the 4WD.
After receiving a call for the stolen vehicle, the control centre of the Kota Setar district police immediately hailed all patrolling officers to track down the suspect and the stolen vehicle.
According to Ahmad Shukri Mat Akhir, Kota Setar district police chief ACP said police arrested two suspects at two separate addresses in the evening that day.
“The police managed to track down the suspect while he was driving the 4WD at a traffic light intersection at 1.30 pm,” Ahmad Shukri said.
The suspect, who realized he was being followed, then tried to flee with the 4WD, but he was eventually intercepted by a police car and arrested in the Jitra area.
Following the arrest of the first suspect, police successfully tracked down and arrested the second suspect at a separate address at 3 pm.
Kota Setar district police managed to recover the stolen Hilux and seized another motorcycle which was also reported missing earlier.
Ahmad Shukri said the two suspects, aged 45 and 43, will be remanded for further investigation. The case was being investigated under Section 379A of the Malaysian Penal Code.
