The Judiciary Police (PJ) and the Public Security Police (PSP) separately announced a shoplifting case during a regular press conference on Monday.
PJ spokesman Chan Wun Man identified the 39-year-old suspect as a man surnamed Lam, who told the police he’s jobless.
According to Chan, in August last year, two supermarket managers separately reported to the police that a bottle of imported liquor valued at 32,800 patacas and a bottle of spirits valued at 2,550 patacas had been stolen, respectively. Earlier this month, an employee of another supermarket reported to the police that he caught Lam attempting to steal a bottle of spirits. However, Lam managed to escape from the scene, leaving the liquor behind.
PSP officers apprehended Lam last Wednesday. During questioning, he claimed to be an alcoholic and claimed that due to being unemployed, he had no money to buy alcohol. As a result, he targeted 24/7 supermarkets and stole liquor during the early hours of the morning when the supermarkets were usually understaffed.
In the second case, the suspect is also surnamed Lam, in his thirties and unemployed.
According to PSP spokesman Lam Keong, earlier this month an employee of a supermarket on Avenida de Venceslau de Morais reported to the police that four bottles of spirits, worth a total of 9,800 patacas, had been stolen.
After scrutinising CCTV footage, police identified the suspect as Lam, who was also involved in another theft case where he stole a jacket worth 590 patacas from a shop on Rua da Serenidade.
Lam was arrested recently in Travessa de Chan Loc. Under questioning, he admitted to both thefts. He told the police that he had sold the bottles of alcohol for 7,200 patacas, while he had thrown away the jacket he had stolen.
The two suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing theft charges, according to the two police spokesmen.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows the theft suspect, who had shoplifted four bottles of liquor and a jacket, being escorted by PSP officers to a police station.
