Three people were taken to the police car (according to surveillance screenshot).
By Hu Dake, Chen Lei, and Bai Jianbin of our newspaper, and correspondent Huang Jiajian.
The two minions call him Uncle Lü because he is 41 years old. At this age, he can be their uncle since one of them is 23 years old with the surname Li, and the other is only 15 with the surname He. They are all from Guizhou province and are fellow countrymen.
Uncle Lü had worked in Hangzhou before, so he called these two "kids" to come to Hangzhou with him to "try their luck," which means to steal. After getting off the train, they headed straight to the bustling area of Hangzhou to look for potential targets, eventually locking onto a clothing store at the intersection of Fengqi Road and Wulin Road.
The 15-year-old Xiao He, being short in stature, managed to perform his "bone-shrinking skills" with the help of his companions by slipping through the roller shutter door of the shop. However, what they didn't expect was that while they locked onto their target, the road surveillance cameras also locked onto them.
Uncle Lü had reasons for choosing these two as his minions. The 23-year-old Xiao Li has lung problems, which made others avoid him, and he himself somewhat gave up on himself. Uncle Lü deliberately befriended him, occasionally treating him to some late-night snacks. As for the 15-year-old Xiao He, his parents divorced, which greatly impacted him, causing his academic performance to plummet, leaving teachers shaking their heads at him. Once again, Uncle Lü resorted to his usual tactics of showering him with small favors. In such situations, what does small kindness mean? Perhaps only those who have experienced it would know. Anyway, they both looked up to Uncle Lü and enjoyed listening to his stories about working in big cities.
Uncle Lü thought the opportunity had come. A week ago, he brought Xiao Li and Xiao He to Hangzhou. On the train, he said, "Once we arrive in Hangzhou, you follow my lead. Don't worry, there won't be any problems."
Xiao Li and Xiao He understood his implied meaning.
When they "strolled" to Fengqi Road, it was already 4 o'clock in the morning, and there were almost no pedestrians on the road. Uncle Lü let them sit in front of a clothing store at the intersection of Fengqi Road and Wulin Road while he walked along Wulin Road for a bit and then came back.
He intentionally carried a bag in his hand.
The three sat on the street, leaning against the roller shutter door of the clothing store. In reality, Uncle Lü's hand was feeling behind his back—this was actually to check where the lock on the roller shutter door was located.
After chatting for a while, Uncle Lü determined that the lock on this roller shutter door was on both sides, but not in the middle. Therefore, they devised a plan for stealing: Uncle Lü and Xiao Li would pull up the middle section of the roller shutter door, allowing the short Xiao He (only 1 meter 60 centimeters tall) to crawl inside.
This trick worked. However, when Xiao He performed his "bone-shrinking skills" and crawled in flat on his stomach, the alarm in the store suddenly went off with a sharp sound.
Uncle Lü no longer cared about camaraderie; he and Xiao Li ran away immediately but were quickly surrounded by several men rushing from all directions.
"What? Police!" Uncle Lü was dumbfounded. He didn't know that ever since the three appeared at the Fengqi Road intersection, the 24-hour-running surveillance camera at Wulin Police Station had already firmly locked onto them. Every move they made was like a live broadcast, watched clearly by the police officers.
Additionally, this clothing store was connected to the police station via an alarm system. When the alarm went off, the police station immediately heard it. Thus, the police officers and patrol team quickly moved to arrest them.
As for Xiao He? No one was worried about him escaping. Without anyone pulling up the middle section of the roller shutter door, he couldn't crawl out and became a real "fish in a barrel." He heard commotion outside, unsure of what happened, only realizing that the person opening the door wasn't his companion but already the police officer.
At the time, the clothing store contained over 10,000 yuan in cash and a laptop computer, which this time were "spared from disaster."
This was an undeniable case of burglary. What else could be said? Just as dawn approached, the three were taken into the police station and soon confessed everything to the police officers.
The investigating police officer reminded that according to the current incidence of cases, there are frequent occurrences of break-ins where thieves pull up the middle sections of roller shutter doors due to lack of locks in the middle. Shop owners should choose roller shutter doors that are locked on both ends and in the middle to avoid giving thieves opportunities.