Four local students – including three minors – and a jobless woman were caught on Tuesday for robbing a sex worker of 300 patacas in Iao Hon district, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong and Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam announced at a joint press conference yesterday.
The five locals comprise four students – a 17-year-old boy surnamed Hong, a 14-year-old boy surnamed Lei, a 12-year-old boy surnamed Ieong, a 13-year-old girl surnamed Kuok, and a 21-year-old woman surnamed Leong. Chan said the students are friends studying in different schools in the northern district.
According to Lam, a citizen reported to the Public Security Police early on Tuesday that he or she saw several people who appeared to be robbing a woman on the staircase of Heng Long building in Rua Cinco do Bairro Iao Hon earlier that day.
The citizen, whose gender was not revealed by the police, lives opposite the building where the incident occurred.
He or she saw three males appearing to rob a woman by snatching cash from her handbag at about 1 a.m. on Monday.
The victim yelled for help in Putonghua. PSP officers scrutinised CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and caught two males (Lei and Ieong) and two females (Leong and Kuok) in Rua Oita do Bairro Iao Hon at 3 a.m. The two males admitted to robbing the woman, the two spokesmen said.
The Public Security Police transferred the case and the quartet to the Judiciary Police for follow-up investigation on the same day, Lam said.
According to Ho, PJ officers seized about 190 patacas from them and arrested Hong at about 11 a.m. at his home in Avenida do Coronel Mesquita and seized about 50 patacas from him. Under questioning, they told the police that Lei proposed to rob sex workers in Iao Hon district as most of them were staying illegally in Macau and therefore would not dare to report any crime case to the police. The three males met the victim in Iao Hon district and struck a sex deal. They followed the victim to Heng Long Building and when they reached the first-floor stairwell Hong suddenly grabbed the woman’s hands, Lei covered her mouth and Ieong snatched her handbag and grabbed 300 patacas in cash. The two females (Leong and Kuok) acted as lookouts in the area. Ho said the Judiciary Police were still looking for the victim at the time of the press conference.
The quintet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Tuesday afternoon. Leong and Hong are facing a robbery charge, according to Ho.
The others cannot be charged as they are under the age of criminal responsibility (ACR), which according to Macau’s Penal Code stands at 16.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lam Keong (right) and Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam look on during yesterday’s press conference at the PSP press room about the case. Photo: Camy Tam
