What the policeman held in his hand was just the machete used by the criminal suspects. The oldest of the six suspects is only 22 years old, and the other five are all born after 1990. By reporter Shijie Dong and correspondent Yanwen Wen. Yesterday, the Mine District Public Security Bureau of Shijiazhuang City officially announced that at around 0:00 on September 24th, six young men from two restaurants in the mine district of Shijiazhuang, after drinking, robbed three large trucks with knives. They injured the drivers, broke the headlights, and robbed the cash and mobile phones of local drivers, involving an amount of more than 5,000 yuan. Five hours later, the six suspects were captured by the local police.
Consecutive robberies occurred
According to Deputy Team Leader Dawei Hao of the Plainclothes Action Team of the Mine District Public Security Branch, at 1:35 am on September 24th, he and Captain Zhizhong Feng were investigating another criminal case in the jurisdiction when they suddenly received a call from the command center: five minutes ago, a truck driver surnamed Li from Xingtai drove on the road in front of a restaurant on Ping Shi Road in the mine district and was stopped by five or six young men with machetes and iron bars, demanding 500 yuan in cash. During this time, they also smashed the headlights of Li's truck.
While the police were questioning the victims on their way to the scene, another robbery occurred. At around 2:00 am that day, truck drivers Mr. Geng from Shanxi Province and Mr. Feng from Jinzhou both encountered similar situations.
All six suspects were captured
Based on the previous law enforcement cases of highway robbery in the mine district, Feng Zhizhong and Hao Dapeng analyzed that the criminals often committed more than two crimes in one night, and the crime time was mostly concentrated between 1:00 am and 4:00 am. It was highly possible that the criminals would commit another crime. According to this situation, while they mobilized auxiliary police officers to stand by at the branch, they quickly investigated along various high-risk sections and searched for suspicious persons. When patrolling near the leather factory on Pingshi Road, they found a truck parked on the road (the driver Mr. Feng from Jinzhou was robbed), and the two policemen immediately approached the truck.
When the police car drove in front of the truck, they saw six men with machetes and iron bars surrounding the car. Feng Zhizhong and Hao Dapeng immediately got out of the car. After discovering the presence of the police, the suspects fled in two directions. The police chased them and controlled one suspect, while informing the standby auxiliary police to intercept them and requesting support from the 110 police. Ten minutes later, two suspects were captured at the Red House Street intersection. Through an on-site interrogation, the police learned that a suspect surnamed Wang might have returned to the restaurant where he worked to hide, so they decisively moved in and captured the suspect Wang who had just escaped back to the dormitory.
The investigating police wasted no time and captured the suspect Song at another restaurant in the area. In the morning of September 24th, the last criminal suspect Zhang turned himself in due to pressure, thus all the suspects were captured.
Worrisome lack of legal awareness
After the trial, it was learned that the six suspects were employees of two local restaurants, with the oldest Zhang being only 22 years old, and the remaining five all born after 1990. On the morning of the incident, Zhang organized two other accomplices to drink together. After drinking, Zhang suggested committing a highway robbery, and the other two readily agreed, immediately running back to the restaurant to grab machetes and iron rods. They then called three others and proceeded to rob on the highway. Within less than an hour, they recklessly robbed three large trucks and injured the driver Mr. Feng from Jinzhou. Just as they were committing the crime, they were caught red-handed by the police.
It was understood that the 22-year-old suspect Zhang was the organizer of this gang. He has only one older brother, and since childhood, he has been introverted and ruthless. The other five suspects were all born after 1990, from Jingxing County, and dropped out of school before finishing junior high school to work outside. They have a weak sense of legal awareness. During the interrogation, one of the suspects naively asked the police officer, "Uncle, what time will you finish asking the questions? I'm in a hurry to go back to the restaurant for work!" which made the police cry and laugh at the same time. It was reported that the parents of the suspects were all honest and hardworking farmers in the locality. Upon learning that their children had gotten into trouble, they all expressed ignorance and regret for not disciplining them properly.