In two separate cases, two mainland visitors and a local man have been arrested for stealing mobile phones worth 12,000 patacas and 1,500 patacas respectively, Public Security Police (PSP) Leong Chi Seng said at a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, the suspects are a 24-year-old female who told the police she’s jobless, and a 32-year-old male who told the police he’s a businessman. While the woman is surnamed Hu, the man is surnamed Zhu. They told the police that they are friends.
According to Leong, the Public Security Police received a report from a female tourist on the evening of May 21 that she had left a paper carrier bag containing a mobile phone worth 12,000 patacas in the toilet of a Cotai hotel earlier that day. The police then checked the hotel’s CCTV footage and discovered that Hu had entered the toilet after the victim had left. Hu and Zhu were intercepted in a Taipa hotel the next day.
Under questioning, Hu admitted to stealing the phone out of greed, and that the duo planned to sell the phone in the mainland.
In the second case, the suspect surnamed Pang is a 62-year-old man who told the police he’s jobless.
In that case, the police received a report from a man saying that he had left a smart phone worth 1,500 patacas in a sitting-out area on Ruada Bacia Sul while chatting with friends on a bench. After he realised that he had left the phone behind and returned to the bench, his phone had vanished, and he reported the case to the police.
According to Leong, after scrutinising their citywide CCTV camera system, the police identified Pang and intercepted him on Wednesday in Rua de Martinho Montenegro. Under questioning, he admitted to stealing the phone out of greed, and the phone was handed back to its rightful owner.
The three suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing theft-by-finding charges, Leong said.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) shows evidence including a paper carrier bag and a smartphone seized from the two mainland suspects.
