A man and a woman were separately apprehended last week, the male for stealing a handbag that he had found in the street and the female for stealing a mobile phone that she had found in a woman’s toilet, Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Lai In Hong said at a press conference yesterday.
The female suspect surnamed Ip, who is in her thirties, told the police that she is a clerk, while the male suspect surnamed Sou, who is in his sixties, told the police he’s jobless, Lai said. Both suspects are locals.
According to Lai, a woman left her phone in a casino-hotel resort’s public toilet on November 3 and when she returned to retrieve it, the phone was gone. She then reported the case to the police, saying that her phone was worth HK$9,700.
Police officers then scrutinised CCTV footage of the casino and identified Ip. She was apprehended at her home in Areia Preta district on Saturday, Lai said, adding that Ip told the police that she had decided to hide the phone in a park’s toilet near Rua do Chunambeiro because she was afraid of being exposed as a thief. Police later retrieved the phone from the park’s public toilet.
Meanwhile, another female victim reported to the police on October 8 that on the previous day near the Ruins of St Paul’s she lost a handbag worth 12,000 patacas containing a card holder case worth 4,000 patacas, 200 patacas in cash and her ID and bank cards.
Police investigating the case discovered that a motorcyclist had picked up the handbag and identified the rider as Sou. He was called to a police station for questioning last Tuesday, Lai said, adding that Sou admitted stealing the handbag, but claimed that he had already thrown away the victim’s ID and bank cards, as well as spending the 200 patacas. The handbag and the card holder case were found in Sou’s flat.
Sou and Ip have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing theft-by-finding charges, Lai said.
This undated pixelated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows the female suspect being escorted by PSP officers to a police station.
This undated pixelated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows the male suspect being escorted by a PSP officer to a police station.
