KUALA LUMPUR: A man who dropped off his car at a shopping mall's valet service found it missing when he came back 30 minutes later to pick it up.
Swift work from the Dang Wangi and Selangor police led to the recovery of the car and arrest of a suspect less than two hours after it was reported stolen.
Dang Wangi district police chief Assistant Commissioner Noor Dellhan Yahaya said the incident occurred at 12.48pm on Sunday.
"The complainant — a 31-year-old designer — handed over his vehicle to the valet service attendant, but when he came back for it at 1.20pm, it was already missing.
"Our investigations revealed that the valet attendant had parked the vehicle in the designated parking area before moving it temporarily by the main road," he said on Monday, adding that when the attendant came back to move the car again 10 minutes later, it had gone missing.
"The vehicle key was still with the parking attendant at the time of the incident.
"The vehicle owner called the Dang Wangi police control center to report the theft, and an announcement was made to all personnel on patrol to look for the vehicle."
He added that the vehicle was spotted by a police patrol car at 2.35pm near USJ1 Avenue.
Noor Dellhan said the suspect tried to flee when approached by police, but was apprehended.
"Checks revealed that the suspect, 58, has two prior records for drug offences. We will remand him for further investigations."
According to the mall's management, closed-circuit television footage from the area and the vehicle's Global Positioning System system led to the suspect being caught.