An off-duty fireman who allegedly stole cash, a diamond necklace and three bottles of red wine from a property agency in Zape early last Tuesday morning claimed he was drunk when he committed the crime and wanted to return the loot when he woke up.
The case was announced by Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam in a special press conference on Friday.
According to Ho, the suspect is a 27-year-old fireman surnamed Wong. He joined the Fire Services Bureau in 2018.
Ho said that the Judiciary Police received the case from Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday, when a property agency owner reported that the door to his shop was wide open when he arrived at 10 a.m. that day and it appeared that his shop had been searched and 50,000 patacas, a diamond necklace and three bottles of red wine had gone missing. The victim said the property stolen from the shop was worth 100,900 patacas in total.
According to Ho, after reviewing CCTV footage, the police confirmed that the property agency’s owner forgot to lock the door after work at 10 p.m. on Monday. Then at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Wong pushed open the door and got into the shop. He left at around 7 a.m. carrying two bags.
Ho said that the owner told the police he had received a call from Wong on Wednesday, who admitted to the theft and suggested the two meet up so he could return what he had stolen. PJ officers arrived at the scene prior to the meeting and arrested Wong when he arrived at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
According to Ho, the suspect claimed that he had been out drinking with friends in Zape at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday. At about 6 a.m. when he walked past the property agency he saw the door wasn’t locked, so went in, searched the premises, and stole nearly 30,000 patacas in cash.
The suspect said that he then took a taxi home to Rua da Praia do Manduco. When he woke up at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, he found there was a lot of cash in the bags. The suspect said that when he woke up he remembered that he stole money from the property agency and decided to call the owner to return the cash.
According to Ho, Wong admitted to stealing 29,000 patacas, but denied stealing the necklace and three bottles of red wine. At the time of the press conference the police were still investigating the whereabouts of the other items.
Wong has meanwhile been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigation, facing charges of aggravated theft.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak told reporters on Friday that misconduct by members of the Public Security Forces will never be tolerated, adding that staff members violating the law pose a “bigger danger” to citizens and jeopardise the “sanctity” of the law.
A statement from the Secretariat for Security on Friday noted that the Fire Services Bureau (CB) has launched disciplinary proceedings concerning the case.
In addition, the statement said that the bureau has immediately instructed that all the department chiefs of the bureau to strengthen the moral education of their personnel, and reminded all staff members to pay close attention to their personal conduct.
The hooded suspect from the Fire Services Bureau (CB) is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) on Friday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
