A man in his 30s who threatened a convenience store employee with a weapon and stole cash in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, has been apprehended by an observant police officer.
The Cheonan Dongnam Police Station in South Chungcheong Province announced today (July 15) that they are investigating the suspect, identified as A, on charges of special robbery.
A is accused of entering a convenience store in Sinbu-dong, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, at 11:34 a.m. on July 13, brandishing a weapon, threatening the employee, B, who was attempting to flee the store, and stealing 180,000 won in cash before escaping.
Police, who immediately began tracking the suspect, identified A's escape route and gave chase.
After leaving the convenience store, A attempted to complicate his escape route by walking and switching taxis twice. Police lost track of him at a blind spot of a CCTV camera on a road in Wonseong-dong, Dongnam-gu.
In an attempt to further track A's movements, police contacted the owner of a car parked nearby, identifying themselves as police officers and asking for cooperation by checking the vehicle's dashcam footage. It turned out that the owner of the car was the suspect, A himself.
Although A had emerged from a nearby multi-unit dwelling after removing the mask and hat he wore during the crime and changing his clothes, the police officer noticed that A's height and build were similar to those of the suspect they were tracking. After intense questioning, the police obtained a confession and successfully arrested A approximately three hours after the crime.
Police have recovered the weapon A discarded in a stream, as well as the stolen cash, and have requested an arrest warrant for A.
It is reported that A told police he committed the crime to pay off debts.
Police are considering upgrading the charges from special robbery to robbery resulting in injury, based on the medical certificate of employee B, who is complaining of shoulder pain.
A police official stated, "A appeared slightly flustered by the sudden request for cooperation from the police," adding, "It seems he judged that refusing to cooperate would arouse suspicion, and he likely thought he would be safe since he had already changed his clothes."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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