The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a man from the Chinese mainland on Saturday for stealing from six cars, PJ spokesman Ho Wai Lok said during a special press conference yesterday.
Ho identified the suspect as a 50-year-old male surnamed Fu who claimed to be jobless.
According to Ho, the police received reports from six middle-aged locals on Friday and Saturday about their cars parked in the carpark of a residential building and an open-air carpark, both on Rua da Praia do Manduco (下環街). The victims told the police that the windows of their cars had been smashed with a hard object, and someone had entered the vehicles to steal valuables from inside.
Ho noted that the first victim lost 10 patacas in coins, with repair costs estimated at around 2,000 patacas.
The second victim reported no loss of property, but repair costs of 3,000 patacas.
The third victim lost a laptop, a handbag, a wallet, and 2,000 patacas in cash, totalling 49,000 patacas, with repair costs amounting to 4,000 patacas.
The fourth victim reported a loss of property valued at 3,000 patacas, along with repair costs of 3,000 patacas.
The fifth victim lost 3,000 patacas in cash, with repair costs of 30,000 patacas.
The sixth victim reported no loss of property, but repair costs of 6,000 patacas. The total loss for the six victims, including repair costs, amounts to about 103,010 patacas.
The police discovered that Fu had broken into the residential building’s carpark early Friday morning, using a small hammer to smash the windows of three cars to gain access and search them for valuables. He later entered an open-air car park in the same neighbourhood early Sunday morning, using the same method to smash the windows of three more cars, searching them for valuables.
The police arrested Fu in a casino in Zape on Sunday afternoon, recovering some of the stolen property from him. Ho added that Fu had overstayed his permission to remain in Macau by four months and had lived in a flat on Rua da Praia do Manduco. Ho said that Fu committed the thefts because he had gambled away all his money. Under questioning, Fu told the police that he had also gambled away all the stolen money.
Fu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing theft charges.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded car theft suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
