A 23-year-old man has been arrested after he stole a taxicab in the southern province of Binh Duong and intended to drive it to Cambodia for sale, according to local police.

>> Drunk man, possibly Korean, detained for allegedly stealing taxi in Vietnam Police officers in Bu Gia Map District of Binh Phuoc Province said on Friday that they had handed the thief to their counterparts in neighboring Binh Duong Province. Nguyen Van Tai, from the southern province of Dong Nai, which borders Binh Duong, was captured by the Bu Gia Map District police on Thursday after he stole a taxicab from its driver in Binh Duong and then drove it away. According to the case file, early that morning, Tai took the cab, owned by Saigon Taxi Company, headquartered in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, for a trip to Binh Phuoc. When the cab reached Binh Duong’s Tan Uyen District, its driver pulled over and got out of the car to buy some drinks. As soon as the driver left the vehicle, Tai jumped into his seat and drove it away toward Bu Gia Map.  The cabby reported the theft to local police, who then informed the Bu Gia Map police of the incident. Bu Gia Map police officers immediately set up checkpoints on many routes they thought the stealer could travel through. At 8:00 am the same day, a patrol police team detected a taxi parked on a road in Da Kia Commune of Bu Gia Map District. When they were approaching the cab, its driver, Tai, drove it away at full speed.

Police immediately ran after him and when the vehicle traveled in Phuoc Long Commune, three kilometers from Da Kia, it sank into a large pothole. As a result, Tai lost control of the taxi, causing it to crash into an eatery on the roadside.

The car then turned on one side while the roof of the eatery collapsed on the vehicle. It is unclear if anyone in the eatery got hurt. Despite his injuries, Tai got out of the cab and ran away but he was caught after a 200-meter chase. Following his arrest, Tai told police that he had intended to drive the car to Cambodia and sell it there.

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