A local man was arrested earlier this week for stealing a palm payment device from the reception of a hotel in Cotai early last month, telling the police that he did it “just for fun”, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Lei Chan Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The man surnamed Leong in his twenties told the police that he is jobless.
According to Lei, the hotel reported to the police early last month that its staff found that a palm payment device at its reception had been stolen. After scrutinising the hotel’s CCTV footage, PSP officers discovered that a man, Leong, snatched the device and left there on October 6.
PSP officers intercepted Leong on Rua da Madeira (馬德拉街), a street running through the area of two adjacent villages of Cheok Ka Village (卓家村) and Sam Ka Village (三家村) to Lago (Lake) Building (湖畔大廈) in Taipa, a subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) estate, on Monday this week.
Under questioning, Lei said, Leong admitted to having stolen the palm payment device from the hotel’s reception “just for fun”. He told the police that after playing with the device for a while, he dumped it in a green area outside the hotel.
According to Lei, the police were still looking for the device at the time of yesterday’s press conference.
Leong has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a theft charge.
Gambler steals from bags while uni students exercising
Meanwhile, Lei announced during Wednesday’s regular press conference that a man from the mainland was arrested on Monday for stealing cash and valuables from bags that seven students put aside while they were exercising in a sports complex on the campus of a university in Taipa on Sunday.
The man surnamed Li in his forties told the police that he is unemployed.
According to Lei, the seven students reported to the police on Sunday afternoon that after exercising in the sports complex, they found that their personal possessions had disappeared from their bags.
The stolen possessions included cash, four smartphones, and two tablet computers worth 55,800 patacas in total.
After scrutinising the police forces’ citywide CCTV camera system, Lei said, PSP officers identified Li as the thief. The police also confirmed that Li went to a green area near Cheok Kun Pavilion (焯公亭) located at the junction of Estrada dos Parses (白頭馬路) and Estrada de Cacilhas (海邊馬路/劏狗環), near the Macau Monetary Authority’s (AMCM) headquarters, on Guia Hill in the peninsula later the same day after stealing the students’ valuables.
According to Lei, PSP officers arrested Li the next day when he went to the same location again.
Under questioning, Lei said, Li admitted that he decided to steal valuables from bags of those exercising after gambling away all his money in local casinos on Friday last week.
According to Lei, Li told the police that as he worried that the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) of the stolen smartphones and tablet computers might enable the police to know his whereabouts, he decided to hide them in the bushes near the pavilion.
Li said that he went to the location the next day again with the objective of checking whether the ill-gotten items were still there, according to Lei. As the police had put the location under surveillance, Li was arrested when he returned to the area.
Li has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing an aggravated theft charge.
A thief faces an aggravated charge if the stolen possessions are worth over 30,000 patacas.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows two PSP officers escorting the theft suspect to a police station in Taipa.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Wednesday shows two PSP officers escorting the aggravated theft suspect to a police station in Taipa.
