The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a mainland man at a hotel in the city centre on Sunday afternoon for burgling three flats in a residential building in the Mercado de S. Lourenço neighbourhood in the wee hours of that day and stealing valuables worth over HK$9,000 in total, PJ spokesman Ho Chan Nam said during a special press conference yesterday.
Upon being notified by the Public Security Police (PSP) about a burglary at a flat in the neighbourhood early Sunday morning, PJ officers were dispatched to the scene, who soon confirmed that two other flats in the same building had also been burgled.
The PJ investigation discovered that the suspect succeeded in burgling the three flats after he had climbed the scaffolding on a construction site adjacent to the building and damaged the flats’ grilles, Ho said, adding that the suspect got out of the building through the main door.
The Judiciary Police identified the 46-year-old man surnamed Hu as the suspect and arrested him at a hotel in the city centre on Sunday, according to Ho, who pointed out that PJ officers found 1,500 patacas, HK$6,200 and 1,300 yuan in cash, as well as four supermarket coupons and tools such as pliers, pipe cutters and screwdrivers in the suspect’s hotel room.
Under questioning, Hu, who told police he is a construction worker, admitted to committing the burglaries, claiming that due to financial difficulties, after entering Macau on Saturday, he bought the tools from a hardware store and burgled the three flats within one hour early on Sunday.
Hu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing an aggravated theft charge, Ho said.
Evidence seized from the suspected burglar is displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
