Xinhua News Agency, Xi'an (reporter Hai-peng Wang, interns Lu Zhang and Ting Qiao) - Although more than 100 yuan in cash was stolen from her home, Ms. Zhang was still worried about the thief's injuries. In the early hours of yesterday morning, a burglar broke into her home and was discovered by Ms. Zhang and her husband. After a fierce struggle, the thief fell from the fifth floor while trying to escape through the window, resulting in a fractured leg.
In the afternoon, at the Wanshou Railway Community in the eastern suburbs, I saw a large patch of dark red bloodstains in the passage below Building No. 14.
"I was so scared that I didn't dare to leave the house all day today," said Ms. Zhang, who lives on the fifth floor, as she recounted the incident to the reporter. That night, Ms. Zhang's husband, who had a cervical problem, was sleeping on the sofa in the living room, while Ms. Zhang was sleeping in the bedroom. At midnight, faint flashlight beams were seen in the bedroom. "Why don't you go to sleep?" The husband shouted several times from the living room, but the wife lying in bed didn't dare to respond because she noticed a man in a black coat standing by the window.
"Fearing that he might have a weapon," Ms. Zhang said that when her husband realized something was wrong, he walked into the bedroom and saw a man standing by the window. He immediately rushed over and grabbed the man. Ms. Zhang then picked up a wooden stick placed beside her pillow and swung it towards the man's head.
"Previously, our home had been burglarized twice. Since then, we always keep a wooden stick by our bedside every night," Ms. Zhang explained. The man tried to break free, but her husband tightly held onto his leg. Unable to shake him off, the burglar dragged her husband to the balcony of another bedroom, eventually climbing onto the window using her husband’s back. "Perhaps he didn't hold on properly and fell down," Ms. Zhang said, adding, "If he gets seriously injured, what will happen to the rest of his life?"
After the man fell from the building, two other men emerged from the shadows nearby. They carried the injured man to the passage and, after a short while, left him there and departed. Subsequently, Ms. Zhang's husband called the police (110) and emergency services (120), while Ms. Zhang checked their home and found that more than 100 yuan in cash from her husband's trouser pocket was missing. She speculated that the thief had entered through the bedroom window which lacked a protective net.
Later, the reporter visited the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Medical College, where the injured thief was placed on an additional bed near the safety exit in the orthopedic department. The nursing staff introduced that the man had fractures in both ankles but no life-threatening injuries. The doctor had already applied plaster casts to stabilize the broken bones.
The reporter briefly conversed with the injured man. He claimed to be from Sichuan and had only arrived in Xi'an the day before, not knowing where the other two accomplices were staying...
Currently, the police are investigating the matter.
(Edited by SN002)
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