A 71-year-old woman was arrested on Friday for stealing a 6-plate induction stove worth 9,000 patacas which she then disassembled and sold the parts, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said at a regular press conference on Monday.
The suspect is a jobless local woman surnamed Lei.
According to Cheong, the male owner of a restaurant reported to the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday morning that he had temporarily placed a brand new six-plate induction stove worth 9,000 patacas outside his restaurant in Rua de Má Káu Séak in Areia Preta district, and later planned to move it back inside to be installed. But he then discovered that the stove had vanished and immediately reported the case to the police.
Thanks to CCTV footage near the restaurant, PSP officers identified Lei and intercepted her near Rua de Má Káu Séak in the afternoon. Lei told the police she thought the stove was a discarded item so she put it on a trolley and took the stove away and disassembled it into parts. According to her version, she sold some of the parts for 206 patacas. She also said that she moved one of the induction hob plates to her home for her own use. PSP officers later retrieved the hob plate from her home. Lei told the police that she had spent all the money, according to Cheong.
Lei has been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP), facing a theft charge, according to Cheong.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Monday shows evidence seized from the septuagenarian suspect such as parts of a 6-plate induction stove and a trolley.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Monday shows PSP officers escorting the septuagenarian theft suspect at a police station.
