The Hanoi Police said on March 4 that they took 8 suspects into custody for suspected involvement in a highway car chase and shoot-out in the city.
According to the police, at about 6am on March 2, witnesses on the Lang – Hoa Lac Highway found a black Honda Civic car crashed to the roadside with serious damage and blood stains splattered inside, but no people or bodies were found.
When police arrived on the scene, they discovered a pistol, an improvised gun, 3 swords, 7 daggers, a pocket knife, and the 6 bullet holes pierced through the body of the car.
They traced the license number of the car and found the owner to be Nguyen Quoc Hiep of Cau Giay District, Hanoi. However, Hiep said he pawned the vehicle to Nguyen Xuan Kiem in Tu Liem District in October 2009. Further investigation revealed that Kiem then pawned the vehicle to Nguyen Bich Thuy, 32, who lived in Quan Hoa, Cau Giay District. Thuy then pawned it to another person named Nguyen Phuong Thao in exchange for borrowing VND 350 million (USD 19,000).
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| Nguyen Bich Thuy (R) and two other members of her group |
In January 2010, Thuy acted as a guarantee for Nguyen Minh Tuan (34 and residing in Germany), to borrow another VND 500 million (USD 27,000) from Thao and her husband, Bach Thanh Phong. Tuan then fled to Germany and asked his family members, including his younger brother Nguyen Anh Tu, to repay the debt for him, but Tu refused, which led to a fight between them.
At that point, Tu and Thuy were jointly operating a karaoke club named X6 in Cau Giay District.
According to police reports, at about 10pm on March 1, Phong and two other young males went on motorbikes to X6 club to meet Thuy to ask her to pay the debt. As they could not find Thuy, they smashed the club’s glass windows, cursed at its employees, then left.
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| Three cars that Thuy's group used during the chase |
After hearing about the incident, Nguyen Quang Dong (Thuy’s cousin, manager of the club), called Phan Tung Khanh, 32, who in turn called an additional 10 people. They took 4 cars (2 Civics, 1 Honda CRV, 1 Kia Sorento) to the club, where they armed themselves with weapons and stormed the building to find Phong.
When they reached the area near the National Conference Centre in My Dinh, they spotted Phong’s group, now traveling in a car. As Phong’s group realised they were being followed, they tried to flee and Dong’s group started chasing them. It turned into a gang-style high speed chase. During the chase, Thuy was reportedly shouting, “Chase them, kill them”, over and over.
The chase went into the Lang – Hoa Lac Highway and when they reached the area of Ngoc Liep Commune, Quoc Oai District, one Honda Civic being driven by a person named Lan overtook Phong’s vehicle and forced it to the side of the road.
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| The suspected bullet hole in the windshield of the Sorento vehicle. (Photo by Phuc Hung). |
As the people inside had not gotten out, a person named Truong used a sport-style gun to fire repeatedly on Phong’s car. Phong and his two friends ducked down to dodge then opened the car doors to run away. Dong’s group continued chasing them on foot and used a sword to injure one of them.
On the morning of March 2, Nguyen Quang Dong returned to the karaoke club to meet Nguyen Van Tu and another person named Trinh Van Chung to tell the whole story.
A DTiNews reporter found out that the Kia Sorento vehicle belonging to Dong’s group also had a bullet hole in its windshield. This means there might have been return fire from the vehicle being chased.
The Hanoi Police have arrested Bach Thanh Phong, Nguyen Anh Tu, Trinh Van Chung, Nguyen Bich Thuy, Nguyen Quang Dong, Nguyen Tien Dat, Phan Tung Khanh, and another person named Nguyen Quang Hinh, whose involvement in the case has not been revealed.