Suspect Lü Shaofu.
Suspect Lu Junliang.
Suspect Hu Xiaojun.
Part of the cash and作案 tools recovered by the police. Photos taken by reporter Zhao Xiongtao.
The owner of a freight department was riding his bicycle to the bank to conduct business when he was attacked just outside the market with an iron pipe and over 300,000 yuan in freight payments were stolen. After nearly 70 hours of continuous investigation, the Xi'an police arrested the three suspects, recovering part of the stolen money and one vehicle.
On-street Incident
Two men carrying out the robbery captured on surveillance.
At around 9:00 AM on April 11th, near the pedestrian walkway of Zhuhong Road Electromechanical Market in Xi'an, two thugs struck the owner of a freight department, Mr. Zhou, who was riding his bicycle, with an iron pipe wrapped in newspaper. They then robbed him of his briefcase containing freight payments. Mr. Zhou told the police that the briefcase contained 380,000 yuan in cash.
The thugs escaped in a white car.
After receiving the emergency call, the officers from Weiyang Palace Police Station of Weiyang Branch of Xi'an Public Security Bureau quickly arrived at the scene, conducted investigations and interviews, and retrieved surveillance footage from around the incident location. One camera captured the moment of the crime. The video showed that at 8:59:55 AM on April 11th, Mr. Zhou was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk when a man approached him and, as they passed each other, pulled out a stick from his chest and hit Mr. Zhou twice on the back of the head and shoulder. Then another man came running up, and together they beat Mr. Zhou. Afterwards, they grabbed Mr. Zhou's briefcase, ran to the slow-moving lane, and fled the scene in a white car. The surveillance footage showed that the entire robbery lasted only about 10 seconds.
Following the case, Director Du Hangwei and Deputy Director Xiao Xiliang of the Xi'an Public Security Bureau gave high priority to it and demanded swift resolution. On the same day, a special task force consisting of more than 30 officers from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of Xi'an Public Security Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Team of Weiyang Branch, and Weiyang Palace Police Station was formed.
Three Suspects Have Family Ties
Through on-site investigation and inquiries into Mr. Zhou's social relationships, the police learned that after the robbery, the two suspects escaped in a white car waiting nearby. The officers eventually confirmed that the suspect vehicle was a white Polo car. On the evening of April 12th, the task force found the involved vehicle within a unit on Labor South Road. Using the vehicle to identify individuals, the police quickly determined the identities of the three suspects. On the evening of April 13th, the police arrested suspect Hu Xiaojun and based on Hu Xiaojun's confession, arrested suspect Lü Shaofu at around 1:00 AM on April 14th, and arrested suspect Lu Junliang at around 5:00 AM on April 14th. All three confessed to the crime of robbing Mr. Zhou.
According to the suspects' confessions, the three of them have some family ties and are all from southern Shaanxi, living separately in urban villages in Bachqiao District. By chance, they heard that Mr. Zhou, who runs a freight department on Zhuhong Road Electromechanical Market, had money and often rode his bicycle to the bank to deposit large sums of cash. The three decided unanimously to rob Mr. Zhou and get some money.
Since February this year, the three had been sporadically staking out near the electromechanical market, getting familiar with Mr. Zhou's routine of entering and leaving the market to deposit money. On April 4th, the three had attempted to follow Mr. Zhou in a car to rob him but failed because Mr. Zhou quickly entered the bank. On the morning of April 11th, Hu Xiaojun and Lü Shaofu waited with weapons outside the electromechanical market while Lu Junliang drove nearby to pick them up. At around 9:00 AM, seeing Mr. Zhou riding his bicycle to the bank, Hu Xiaojun and Lü Shaofu rushed forward and assaulted Mr. Zhou, grabbing his freight payment before jumping into the car and fleeing the scene.
On the day of the successful robbery, at Lü Shaofu's residence, the three split the loot and then went their separate ways. Currently, all three have been criminally detained.
Case Breakthrough
Citizens who chased provided vehicle model and license plate number
With the case solved, Deputy Director Yuan Ping of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Weiyang Branch of the Public Security Bureau felt much relieved. In fact, these past few days, she had been very anxious. Because, while leading the police in solving the case, on the morning of April 13th, Yuan Ping returned to her hometown in Shanxi to bury her deceased father. And by the afternoon of April 13th, Yuan Ping hurriedly returned to the special task force to continue participating in solving the case.
Yuan Ping recounted that on the morning of April 11th, at the crime scene, the police found an iron pipe wrapped in newspaper with bloodstains on it. That afternoon, the special task force sent this pipe as an important piece of evidence to the Ministry of Public Security for technical analysis, hoping to find a breakthrough in solving the case.
During the police's investigation and interviews, apart from eyewitnesses describing the scene of the crime, several citizens also chased the suspects in their cars. They chased them all the way to near the North Second Ring Road, but due to the suspects' rapid speed, they lost them. The chasing citizens provided the police with information about the involved vehicle being a white Polo and its license plate number.
Based on the license plate number, the police went to the Vehicle Management Office to retrieve information, discovering that the vehicle corresponding to the license plate was not the car they were investigating. The police thus deduced that the criminals had used a fake license plate. According to information provided by the Vehicle Management Office, there were over 2000 similar white sedans in the entire city of Xi'an. After investigation, the police found the involved vehicle in the yard of a unit on Labor South Road.
The police decided to use the vehicle to find the people, investigating who had driven the car on the morning of April 11th, quickly identifying the driver's identity. The police retrieved photos of the three men in the car from the police network and began the arrest operation.
Suspects Confession
Prayed for safety after the robbery
The three suspects confessed that they had been planning this case for a long time. Lu Junliang (33 years old, from Danfeng County) had previously operated a minibus in Xi'an, but later became idle. Lü Shaofu (40 years old, from Shangnan) had once contracted projects in Xi'an but lost money. Hu Xiaojun (30 years old, from Danfeng County) had been working all along. After successfully robbing, the three each obtained part of the stolen money. Hu Xiaojun bought a new car worth 130,000 yuan on the same day. Lü Shaofu repaid several ten thousand yuan of debt and hid another 30,000 yuan in the wardrobe at home. Lu Junliang placed 40,000 yuan at a friend's house, preparing to run away if the case broke, and deposited another 70,000 yuan in the bank. On the second day after the case occurred, the three even drove the new car to Baxian Temple, burned incense to pray for blessings, praying not to be caught by the police.
Before being arrested, Lu Junliang felt the situation was serious and had been hiding outside, never returning to his residence. Hu Xiaojun's daughter is only 10 months old, and he had already placed her clothes in the trunk of the new car, preparing to leave Xi'an as soon as possible. "The three suspects succeeded in their robbery and hadn't had time to squander the money yet, so besides the already recovered 140,000 yuan in stolen money and one new car, it's still very likely to recover the rest of the stolen money," said Yuan Ping.
Yesterday afternoon, one of the suspects said, "It has come to this point, I just feel sorry for the victim, because we didn't even know Mr. Zhou."
Police Reminder
Carrying large amounts of cash should pay attention to safety and confidentiality
Currently, the injured Mr. Zhou is still in the hospital, diagnosed by the doctor as having a concussion and needing to stay in the hospital for observation. Fortunately, the three thugs who robbed him have all been caught. According to Mr. Zhou's report, he was robbed of 380,000 yuan in cash. However, according to the confessions of the three suspects, Hu Xiaojun received 130,000 yuan, and the other two each received 110,000 yuan, adding up to a total of 350,000 yuan. Whether Mr. Zhou made a mistake in his account or the three suspects didn't tell the truth, the police are further verifying. Meanwhile, they are making every effort to recover the rest of the stolen money.
Mr. Zhou is engaged in the business of collecting freight payments on behalf of others, meaning suppliers provide goods through logistics, and after the purchasing party buys the items, the freight department collects the money, deducts the freight charges, and then transfers the freight payments to the supplier via bank remittance. Therefore, such collection of freight payments often involves large amounts of cash that need to be remitted. In Xi'an, there are quite a number of practitioners like Mr. Zhou in these freight distribution centers. "We remind all freight department bosses that when carrying large amounts of cash, they must pay attention to safety and carry the cash in a confidential and secure manner," said Deputy Director Zhang Li of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Weiyang Branch.
This article was written by reporter Yang Xiaogang.
(Editor: SN047)