A local 18-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for stealing 49 mobile phones from a strongbox in a shopping mall near the Barrier Gate checkpoint, and the victim reported a total loss of 160,000 patacas, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said in a press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Hoi told the police that he is jobless, the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, PJ officers received a report from a middle-aged shop owner in the afternoon of November 21 last year that she had lost a total of 49 mobile phones stored in the combination strongbox in her shop in the afternoon, after she had just put the phones into it earlier that day, causing her a loss of 160,000 patacas.
Upon investigation, PJ officers found that Hoi used a screwdriver to pry open the strongbox in the shop on November 21 last year, stealing a total of 49 mobile phones and putting them into his backpack before leaving Macau through the Barrier Gate checkpoint on the same day.
Hoi was identified and intercepted when he re-entered Macau on Wednesday afternoon, and he refused to cooperate with PJ officers, the spokesperson said.
At the time of the press conference, PJ officers were still investigating why Hoi knew there were a number of mobile phones in the security box and whether there are more people involved in the case, the spokesperson said, adding that PJ officers believe that the victim and Hoi do not know each other.
The spokesperson said that PJ officers were also still investigating more details of the case and tracing the whereabouts of the stolen goods.
Hoi has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing a charge of aggravated theft, the spokesperson said.
A Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
