Man Arrested For Threatening Covid Task Force Officers And Damaging Patrol Car

A 41-year-old man named I Made Netra (alias Kaprot) from Mas Village, Ubud has been arrested by Ubud Police Department after attacking officials from COVID-19 Task Force and damaging their patrol car on Saturday (13/2).

The Head of Ubud Police Department, AKP Gede Sudyatmaja explained that the incident occurred when officials from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force were patrolling the village.

The patrol is a standard daily procedure done by the Task Force in order to inspect the implementation of prevention protocols during the current partial lockdown.

“According to the report from the witnesses, the incident occurred on Saturday at 9:30 pm as the officials patrolled the Mas Village area,” Sudyatmaja said.

The incident occurred in front of a villa where the suspect was working called Gusde House Villa in Ubud.

The suspect approached and threatened the officials with a sharp object, later identified as an iron hook.

The officials started to run, with Kaprot chasing after them with his weapon. They managed to escape as Kaprot was too slow to catch up, so he decided to return to the parked vehicle to damage it instead.

“The perpetrator pursued the witnesses, then returned to where the witnesses parked the car and damaged the left rear turn signal,” Sudyatmaja said.

Following the incident, officials from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force filed a report to the police station and urged officers to locate the suspect.

Under the command of the Criminal Investigation Bureau from Ubud Police Department, Iptu I Wayan Gede Mudana arrested the suspect on Jalan Cempaka, Ubud along with the evidence on Sunday afternoon.

“We arrested the perpetrator and secured the evidence in the form of a sickle with a broken iron handle,” Sudyatmaja said.

The officials who were victimized have been identified as I Wayan Balik, I Made Dita, I Wayan Weta and I Wayan Kartika. Luckily, nobody was injured from the incident.