A hairstylist from the mainland was arrested on Wednesday in Taipa for stabbing and robbing a woman of HK$186,000 in a hotel guestroom in Rua de Cantão in Zape earlier that day, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kam Fai said at a special press conference yesterday.
The 31-year-old male suspect surnamed Zhu from Jiangxi told the police that he is a hairstylist. He entered Macau through the local airport on October 14 and now holds an expired “two-way permit” (officially known as Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau).
The female victim, a mainlander in her thirties from Hunan, told the police that she is a saleswoman. Cheong said the victim had a 4-centimetre-long stab wound in her left thigh.
According to Cheong, the Public Security Police (PSP) referred a case to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Wednesday afternoon about a woman who had been stabbed in the left thigh by a man with a knife in a guestroom of Fortuna Hotel in Zape and was robbed of HK$186,000 in cash. The victim was rushed to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for treatment. PJ officers later arrived at the scene to follow up on the investigation.
According to Cheong, the victim told the police that she has been engaged in “currency exchange deals” in Macau for about a month. She met Zhu earlier this month in a restaurant in Zape and said that she could help him exchange money.
Cheong said the victim booked a guestroom in a hotel in Zape for Zhu last Thursday. Zhu told the victim that he wanted to exchange HK$50,000 in cash in the room on Sunday, but the deal failed because of insufficient funds in Zhu’s bank account on that day. Zhu transferred 8,000 yuan to the victim via WeChat on Monday in exchange for HK$9,000 in cash.
Victim stabbed with sharp knife
Cheong said Zhu later told the victim that he wanted to exchange yuan into HK$200,000 on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The victim told Zhu that she had only got a HK$186,000 in cash. Zhu told her that was okay and asked her to come to his room. After the victim entered the room and took the cash out of her bag, Zhu immediately threatened the victim with sharp knife, telling her to give him the cash.
The victim resisted and shouted for help. Zhu reacted by stabbing the victim’s left thigh. After the stabbing, the victim stopped resisting and shouting. Zhu immediately snatched the cash from the victim and tied her up with packing tape, after which he left the room.
According to Cheong, the victim called the police for help after Zhu had left. Cheong said the Judiciary Police are attaching great importance to the case and deployed more than 20 PJ officers to investigate. Some officers went to the hotel where the crime took place, while others got in touch with the victim who was in the hospital to ask her questions about the case.
Suspect has his hair dyed after robbery
Thanks to CCTV footage of nearby areas and shops, PJ officers located Zhu. PJ officers discovered that Zhu had used three taxis within a short period time before arriving in Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen in Taipa. He immediately went to a shop to buy clothes and glasses and put them on. He then went to a hair salon to have his hair dyed.
Cheong said PJ officers later learnt that Zhu was in Taipa and dispatched several teams there and put the city centre area under surveillance.
Zhu was arrested at 5:50 p.m. in Rua de Fat San and HK$183,000 in cash wrapped in a plastic bag was seized. Under questioning, Zhu denied committing the crime and stabbing the victim. He claimed that he went to the hotel guestroom to get back HK$160,000 in cash which he had given the victim for safekeeping. However, according to Cheong, Zhu was unable to tell the police where the HK$160,000 came from.
Zhu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday afternoon, facing charges of robbery, use of a prohibited weapon, and committing crimes while staying illegally in Macau, according to Cheong.
Initial police reports about the case on Wednesday had put the robbed amount of money at HK$183,000.
N.B. The suspect’s surname in yesterday’s story about the case was misspelt “Chu”. The correct Putonghua pinyin spelling is Zhu. We regret the error.
The hooded robbery suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
Evidence seized from the suspect such as Hong Kong dollar notes and a pair of glasses are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
