A local student was arrested on Saturday for covering up a friend’s crime, Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Kong Chi Ian said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Kong identified the suspect as a man surnamed Lo who is a student in his twenties.
According to Kong, the police received a report from a driver about a traffic accident in Rua das Lorchas (火船頭街) in the Inner Harbour district. The driver told the police that the front left side of his car was hit by a motorcycle while undertaking on the inside. The motorcyclist then fled the scene without stopping, but the car’s driver gave chase and stopped him. The rider then abandoned his vehicle and ran away, after which the car driver called the police.
The police arrived at the scene and saw Lo, who claimed to be the rider of the motorcycle and to have caused the accident. However, the police discovered that Lo was not the rider. The police later apprehended the actual rider near the scene, and they then discovered that he was under 16 years old. Eighteen is the minimum age to obtain a driving licence in Macau. Besides, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 16.
Lo was then arrested for covering up his friend’s crime.
Under questioning, Lo admitted that his friend, the rider, had called him after the accident and asked him to cover up his offence because he was under 16 and, consequently, didn’t have a driving licence. Lo also told the police that he owned the motorcycle and had lent it to his friend before the accident.
Lo has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and is facing a charge of aiding and abetting another person’s crime.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Kong Chi Ian looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: Ada Lei
