Taxi driver detained after stealing phones of Russian tourists in Hà Nội

The location where the incident involving the Russian tourists occurred. — Photo Hoàng Hải

HÀ NỘI — Hàng Bông Ward’s police on Thursday said they have detained a taxi driver who is alleged to have stolen two smartphones from Russian tourists in Hà Nội on Thursday morning.

Posts regarding the case have popped up on social media, where the two Russian women – who arrived in Việt Nam two days ago – panicked after having their iPhones stolen. All their personal information and electronic documents were stored on their devices.

The author of the original post, a Vietnamese man named Hoàng Hải, said that he and some friends led the two tourists to a local police to report the case but, due to the language barrier, they were asked to return to their hotels and request assistance from the hotel staff to write the report.

According to initial information from the police, on Thursday morning the two hailed a taxi to Cấm Chỉ Street, Hàng Bông Ward, in the Old Quarter of the capital city. As their phones’ batteries were running low, they asked the driver to charge the phones in the car.

When the car arrived at Hàng Bông alley (Hàng Đông Ward), they asked the driver to wait as they went to exchange US$100 for Vietnamese currency.

But once they left the car, the driver sped off, along with the phones.

Hoàn Kiếm District’s police said the driver is a 34-year-old man, Trần Quốc H., with registered residence in the northern province of Nam Định.

The driver has turned in the two tourists’ phones and they have been returned to the owners.

Further investigations are underway. — – VnExpress News