The thief thought he could evade security cameras by approaching the premises in a boat. - Photo: Weibo
BEIJING: A meticulous thief in China rowed a boat to steal his former employer’s safe containing 500,000 yuan (US$70,000) after planning the heist for a year.
He was caught within 24 hours by the police in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Zhejiang Legal News reported.
Officers received a property loss report from the company on October 1.
Their investigation hit an initial dead end because the company’s surveillance cameras had been sabotaged, and they could not see any suspects in roadside cameras.
Detectives then turned their attention to surveillance footage from the river bank next to the firm.
They soon discovered a suspicious man rowing a boat there the previous night.
Police also looked into current and former staff with the company because the thief seemed to be familiar with the company’s security system.
They nailed down a former employee surnamed Sheng, and caught him in his hometown in the eastern province of Jiangxi, six hours away from Hangzhou by car, less than 24 hours after they received the report.
It transpired that Sheng had been planning the crime for a year after he left the company.
He said he thought of driving other people’s car and disguising himself to escape from police investigation, but gave up the plans thinking they were not safe enough.
He noticed a sanitation boat parking ashore.
He parked his car a few kilometres away from the company, walked to the boat and rowed it for three hours until reaching the company.
He sneaked into the room where backup keys were stored, cut off the surveillance cameras and stole the 50kg safe that contained 500,000 yuan from the accounting office.
Sheng admitted his crime after the police found the safe at the home of his relative.
He was caught before finding an electric welding torch he planned to use to open the safe.
Sheng faces a minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment.
“Planning for a year, caught in a day,” one person said on Douyin.
“It is not possible to steal anything in a city full of surveillance cameras,” said another.
“He should have used a submarine,” another person quipped.
In May, a thief in northeastern China’s Liaoning province stole a 50kg safe from a lottery retailer, then walked 3km pushing it before being caught.
It was so heavy that he had to rest multiple times along the way.
The police said it was “very easy” to identify him in surveillance footage. - South China Morning Post
