A man, who was told he had to pay 20 patacas to play Chinese chess in Areia Preta’s Triangle Garden as a “chess board rental fee”, got into a quarrel, and took two cleavers from his motorcycle parked nearby and chased after the “lender”, but was stopped by police officers before he could injure anyone, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Ho Ka Kit said during Tuesday’s regular press conference.
The suspect is a 57-year-old local resident, surnamed Lai, and works as a repairman.
According to Ho, police officers heard someone yelling for help in Triangle Garden during a routine patrol on Sunday afternoon, and when they investigated they saw Lai brandishing two cleavers running after a man, so the police stopped Lai before he could cause any harm and seized the cleavers.
Under questioning, Lai told the police that earlier that day, while he was playing Chinese chess in the garden, he was suddenly informed by a man in his 60s that he needed to pay him 20 patacas “chess board rent”.
Lai refused and the man asked another man to negotiate but it ended up in a quarrel and the three clashed. Lai felt that he was being bullied and so he went and got two rusty cleavers from the helmet box of his motorcycle parked in Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral and returned to the garden, where he then chased the victim, trying to hurt him, according to Ho.
Ho pointed out that the head of the cleaver was over 10 centimetres in length. Lai, who faces a charge of possessing prohibited weapons, was transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for investigation.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Tuesday shows two rusty choppers seized from the suspect.
