A man from China’s Taiwan region has been arrested for attempting to rob a local female gambler near a Light Rapid Transit (LRT) station in Taipa, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chong Kam Leong said during a special press conference yesterday.
The 64-year-old suspect surnamed Chen told the police that he works as a driver.
According to Chong, Chen gambled away all his money in a Cotai casino on Sunday, after which he started observing the victim who had won money gambling. Chen followed her after she left the casino, and attempted to snatch her handbag from behind at the LRT station.
The woman resisted and shouted, thwarting Chen’s plan. After the failed attempt, he made his getaway by taxi to a casino in Cotai, then got onto a shuttle bus to the Barrier Gate checkpoint, followed by another shuttle bus to a different casino on the peninsula to evade capture.
The woman promptly reported the case to the police. In her handbag, she had HK$635,200 in casino chips, HK$141,000 in cash, various pieces of jewellery, and two mobile phones, totalling HK$1 million in value. None of her belongings were taken during the attempted robbery.
Chen was arrested at the casino on the peninsula later that day. Under questioning, he refused to cooperate.
Chen was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a robbery charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded robbery suspect from Taiwan to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: William Chan
