Thread: Russian nabbed trying to blow up an ATM to steal money

A Russian was arrested by police at Suvarnabhumi international airport on Wednesday after he tried unsuccessfully to blow up an ATM in Hua Hin early Monday morning.

The Russian suspect, identified as Konstantin Dolgov, 27, was spotted by a passer-by, Mr Manaspong Plienpradab, at about 3 am Monday morning at an ATM of Krung Thai bank in front of the Hua Hin land office, trying to open the machine with an oxygen tank.

Upon seeing Manaspong, the suspect escaped. A manhunt was later launched by Hua Hin police who arrived at the scene after being alerted of the robbery attempt. Immigration police at all airports were alerted to watch out for the suspect whose image was shown on the CCTV footages.

Dolgov was apprehended at the departure lounge of Suvarnabhumi airport as he was waiting for a flight out of Thailand.

After the arrest, Dolgov told police that he plotted the robbery plan by renting a pick-up truck which he rode through Hua Hin town to scout for the right ATM to rob. He finally found one in front of the land office and then went to buy tools needed to blow up the ATM which included an oxygen tank and a gas tank at a shop in Pran Buri district.

Early Monday morning, he drove the truck to the targeted ATM, waited there until there was not one around and then moved in to blow up the ATM with the gas which he filled into the machine through a gap before starting a fire.

The gas exploded but, out of a sudden, a motorcyclist just showed up, scaring the suspect who immediately made good the escape empty-handed. He later dumped the gas and oxygen tanks in the shrubs near the hotel where he was staying.

Russian nabbed trying to blow up an ATM to steal money - Thai PBS English News

Sounds like a good plan. I might try it myself but he should have tried to bribe the witness.

Such stealth, guile and sophistication.

How was he ever caught?

^He must have got the idea from watching "Ocean's Eleven" or something similar.

Perhaps he works for SPECTRE.?

Was this method sucessful in the past?

Originally Posted by misskit

Immigration police at all airports were alerted to watch out for the suspect whose image was shown on the CCTV footages.

They did very well, Hua Hin cops and Airport cops. Especially considering the quality of CCTV images and the short time frame from crime to capture.

What a Muppet. Certainly not the sharpest tool in the box.

He didn't steal any money or hurt anyone, nor did he rob any person.......


so let's not blow things out of proportion

Clearly Putin's fault.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

He didn't steal any money or hurt anyone, nor did he rob any person.......


so let's not blow things out of proportion

So it's ok to make the attempt, and if you fail and get caught, you get slapped on the wrist with a wet bus ticket.

So, it was cooking gas and O2, not acetylene and O2. Planning on an explosion.
Did he think what would happen after the explosion? Would it wake people? Would he have time to retreat, blow it, return, grab the money and equipment, and scarper before anyone turns up?

There should be CCTV footage of the ATM. I'd love to have seen it if he hadn't been interrupted. I suspect (from the intellect he's shown), that the footage would be a laugh and high on the Darwin awards list.