Ex-boxer’s wife charged, husband still at large

The wife of a former boxer who evaded arrest after breaking into a Bangkok house on Thursday night faces five charges after she threatened a police officer with a gun, forcing him to drive towards Ayutthaya. The hunt continues for her husband.
Bang Sue police on Saturday took Ms Potjanee Boonlong, 42, to the Criminal Court to seek approval to detain her for a further 12 days. She has been charged with illegal possession of a gun, carrying it without permission, carrying it in public without good reason, illegal detention and possession of illicit drugs.
Ms Potjanee, the wife of Santi Jae-arlee, had gone to a deserted building not far from the house her husband had broken into while fleeing an arrest warrant for theft. He opened fire from the house, where there were three people inside, when police surrounded it on Thursday night.
The woman threatened to harm herself after learning about her husband’s situation. Police took more than two hours to calm her down. She later fled the building and held a police officer at gunpoint, forcing him to drive towards Wang Noi district in Ayutthaya. She later surrendered to police on Friday morning.
Ms Potjanee apologised for what happened before being taken to the court.
Pol Maj Gen Noppasil Phoonsawat, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the woman admitted to having taken drugs the day before travelling to Bangkok to see her husband. She became stressed after learning that her husband was fleeing arrest. 
Santi, 39, broke into a house on Inthamara Soi 29 in Phaya Thai district, where a woman and her two sons were staying, on Thursday night.
He opened fire when police surrounded the house. The former boxer later managed to escape while two brothers inside the house were safely rescued. Their mother had escaped earlier.
Pol Maj Gen Noppasil said two teams of police were hunting down Santi.