Suspect of a Crime
Originally intending to post an advertisement to rent out her house, she instead invited a thief in. Li Mei, a woman from Rongchang, experienced a terrifying ordeal when a thug pretended to be a tenant, entered her home, and held her at knife-point while binding her and robbing her. After the brute fled, Li Mei cleverly managed to free herself from the ropes and immediately reported the crime to the police. Eight hours after the incident, the police captured the suspect of the robbery, Tang Changwen. Yesterday, the Rongchang police criminally detained Tang Changwen on suspicion of robbery.
The Landlady Encounters a Home Invasion
The victim, Li Mei, 28 years old, is from Rongchang County. Li Mei owns a set of commercial housing in a certain neighborhood of Changyuan Town, Rongchang County. Because she works in the main city, she has always wanted to rent this place out. In early May this year, she posted a rental advertisement with her mobile phone number on nearby utility poles in the neighborhood.
At around 10:00 AM on May 5th, a man called Li Mei's mobile phone expressing his interest in renting the place. "I need to see the apartment first," the man requested. "Alright," Li Mei agreed, and they scheduled a time to view the property. Half an hour later, the man appeared in front of Li Mei's residence. The man was about 40 years old, round-faced, and relatively short.
"Why don't we look at the house before discussing the price?" Li Mei warmly opened the door, leading the man into the room and then closed the security door. "Don't shout! Hand over your money and bank card!" Before Li Mei could react, the man suddenly turned hostile, holding a sharp knife to her back. "Help...!" Li Mei hadn't even finished shouting when the man covered her mouth. "If you shout again, do you believe I won't hesitate to kill you?" Frightened, Li Mei remained silent, allowing him to have his way.
Yesterday, Officer Hao Qi from the Changyuan Police Station of the Rongchang County Public Security Bureau introduced that the thug was very cunning during the crime, preventing any noise that might alert neighboring residents. He led Li Mei to the innermost room, tied her hands and feet with nylon rope prepared beforehand, and sealed her mouth with duct tape. To prevent the victim from escaping, he also tied the other end of the rope to the iron bars on the window.
The thug rummaged through Li Mei's handbag, stealing 800 yuan in cash, her mobile phone, and bank cards. "This person is trustworthy; you wait here, I'll go to the bank to withdraw money." After securing his loot, the thug pretended to make a call to his accomplice in the living room. Next, he threatened Li Mei with the knife to reveal her bank card password and then fled.
Seeing the thug escape, Li Mei, whose limbs were bound, struggled hard to stand up, falling several times along the way. Li Mei fought hard and eventually found a way. She tightly leaned against the wall, using the bouncing force of her feet to support her entire body.
Because her hands were tied behind her back, she slowly untied the rope from the window and then used the lock on the security door to free the ropes binding her hands. Successfully escaping, Li Mei, still shaken, rushed downstairs to report the crime to the police station.
A Locksmith Exposes the Thug's Trail
After receiving the alarm, the criminal investigation team of the Rongchang County Public Security Bureau quickly arrived at the scene. "We analyzed that the thug might return to the scene after committing the crime." The officers waited nearly two hours but saw no sign of the thug.
At around 1:00 PM, a locksmith named Zhang carrying a toolbox appeared within the officers' sight. "What are you doing?" the officer asked. "A man asked me to open the lock for a resident on the third floor of the building." According to the police, the building number Zhang mentioned was exactly where the victim, Li Mei, lived. Zhang informed the police that half an hour ago, a man in his 40s approached him, claiming that the resident had been locked inside and asking him to come urgently to open the lock. Zhang also revealed that the man drove a black Chery brand car with a license plate starting with "Yuc" but didn't clearly see the specific number.
The police swiftly reviewed the records of cars with "Yuc" plates. Through inquiries and identification by the locksmith Zhang, the police finally locked onto a Chery car owned by Tang Changwen. When shown Tang's image, the victim Li Mei immediately recognized him.
Thief Found Near Rental Advertisements
At around 6:00 PM, the police spotted Tang Changwen's Chery car by the roadside in the urban area of Rongchang. At that moment, he was standing by a rental advertisement board searching for his next target.
When Tang Changwen wasn't paying attention, the officers rushed forward and pinned him down. They immediately found the victim Li Mei's ID card, bank card, and the dagger used as a weapon on his person.
The police introduced that Tang Changwen, 48 years old, is from Changyuan Town, Rongchang County. After interrogation, Tang admitted to the fact of breaking into the house to commit robbery. After the crime, worried that the victim might die from being tied up for too long, he found a locksmith on the street, lying that the landlord was locked inside the room, and instructed the locksmith to go and open the lock to "rescue" the victim. The police stated that Tang Changwen enjoys gambling and owes a large amount of gambling debt. Recently, creditors have been chasing him. To pay off his gambling debts, he came up with the idea of pretending to be a tenant to rob landlords.
Tang Changwen specifically looked for rental advertisements posted on walls or utility poles in the urban area, calling each number listed. If a man answered, he would hang up without saying anything. If a woman answered, he would arrange to meet them and then enter the house under the pretense of viewing it to carry out a knife-wielding robbery. On the day of the incident, he had already arranged to view houses with multiple female landlords, and Li Mei was his first target.
Police Warning
Such cases often target "female landlords." Therefore, when showing properties to strangers, one can first schedule a meeting in a public place to verify the other party's identity, avoiding showing properties alone. If encountering harm, try to negotiate with the perpetrator while ensuring your own safety, remember the characteristics of the suspect, and report the crime as soon as possible after escaping.
By Xuchiyong from Chongqing Evening News, Correspondent Liu Rui