Arrest happens just days after camera footage of the robbery was released.
VNExpress reported, Ho Chi Minh City police have arrested a male suspect believed to be the man caught on camera snatching a gold chain from a Russian diplomat at a city sidewalk last February.
Vo Ngoc Phi, 27, was arrested on Monday at his home in Can Giuoc District in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.
Vo Ngoc Phi, 27, is held in a police station for further investigation. Photo courtesy of HCMC Police
Phi is suspected to have snatched a gold chain from the neck of Dmitrii Alekseev, an officer from the Russian Consulate General’s office, on February 17.
The Russian diplomat told the police that he was robbed while walking with a friend on the sidewalk of Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Street in District 3 on the way to his office. The robbery was captured by the consulate’s CCTV camera.
The arrest happened just several days after the police released CCTV camera footage provided by the consulate showing a man with a face mask driving a motorbike with a fake license plate snatching the chain from the Russian diplomat.
Police said the robbery is being investigated further.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest metropolis, is one of the most visited destinations in the country, with 3.2 million foreigners arriving here in the first five months of 2018.
Travelers are attracted by the city’s mix of modern comfort and wartime heritage, but its charm is being undermined by street crimes, traffic chaos and pollution.