Instant karma? Johor Bahru city council officer takes down snatch thief with 'flying kick'

One moment, she was crossing the road. The next, her handbag was snatched away by a passing motorcyclist in Johor Bahru.

However, the thief failed to make a getaway, falling off his vehicle mere metres away from his victim.

The woman, 30, chased after the snatch thief who got back on his bike and attempted to flee the scene. 

Hearing the woman's screams for help, a city council enforcement officer came running to her aid and took down the motorcyclist with what appeared to be a flying kick.

Other members of the public also rushed to the scene to help the victim.

Snatch thief gets flying kick from r/instantkarma

Video clips of the daring rescue on Tuesday (Sept 1) afternoon soon went viral on social media, with some racking up over 300,000 views and a flood of comments from Facebook users commending the men for their bravery.

In the clips, they were seen trying to restrain the suspect as they waited for the police to arrive. The suspect was also seen fighting back as the group of men surrounded him to prevent him from fleeing.

In an interview with Harian Metro, the officer in the video, identified as Shazrin Hafeez, 26, clarified that he did not tackle the snatch thief with a flying kick.

"Instead, I kept running towards the snatcher and kept pounding [on him] until we fell."

"I did not think whether the snatcher was dangerous or not at the time, the important thing was that I was able to catch him. Many netizens said I was small-sized, but I managed to catch him."

Shazrin also tried to calm the angry public down after they started to punch the suspect, he said.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/polisJbs/posts/1552971964908493?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBHboFTiiaHhsL1RPf_6_39ya-L2w16fszTOyJaMpQ7OJAZYUITS[/embed]

Local police told The Star that they arrested a 32-year-old man and seized his motorcycle as part of investigations into a case of robbery.

If found guilty, the suspect faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine or caning.

lamminlee@asiaone.com