TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An Indonesian woman stole her employer's safe containing NT$2.08 million (US$68,000) and tried to make away with the loot on an e-bike with her boyfriend, but they were soon captured by authorities.
On Monday (Nov. 18), Tsai Hsiao-yueh (蔡效岳), chief investigator of the Taoyuan County Police Bureau's Luzhu Precinct, said that police at 8 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 16) received a report that a safe had been stolen from a home, reported CNA. The department immediately formed a special team and began to review surveillance footage.
Police found that a couple riding a red e-bike had been spotted at the scene of the crime and began tracking it. After tracing the vehicle's movements on over 100 cameras, they tracked down a vehicle behind a factory in Luzhu District, reported ETtoday.
However, officers discovered that the bike was green in color and began to think that they had followed the wrong vehicle. After carefully inspecting the bike, officers noticed that the paint was still wet and that traces of red were still visible, leading them to suspect that it was the same bike ridden by the suspects, reported Liberty Times.
Traces of red paint still visible. (Taoyuan Police Department photo)
Shortly afterward, police were able to apprehend the male suspect, a 28-year-old Indonesian migrant worker. Soon, officers also managed to nab the female suspect, a 25-year-old domestic caregiver.
Tsai said that the woman had worked as a caregiver in the victim's home but had absconded after only working there for three months. Police found that the woman had secretly taken a house key when she fled her employer.
Having worked in the home for several months, the woman was familiar with her former employer's daily routine and the location of the safe in the home. On Nov. 16, the woman and her boyfriend took advantage of a moment when the homeowner stepped out to sneak in, steal the safe, and flee the scene on the e-bike.
The male suspect then rode off again to find tools to pry open the safe. Tsai said that although the man had been able to break the lock, he had not yet managed to open the safe.
When police arrested the couple, they seized the safe and recovered the NT$2.08 million that had been kept inside, returning it to the owner. After questioning the couple, police transferred them to the Taoyuan District Prosecutor's Office, where they are being investigated for aggravated burglary (加重竊盜罪).