Chinese robber ‘targeted only men because he was worried women might scream’
A man, 20, from Guizhou province, reportedly told police he also used a toy wooden knife to carry out the crimes because using a real knife would have made him guilty of an even more serious offence
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 16 March, 2016, 1:32pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 16 March, 2016, 1:32pm
Kathy Gao
[email protected]
A photograph taken from CCTV footage, which reportedly shows the suspect in the case robbing a man in Guizhou province on February 29. Photo: Guizhou Business Daily
A Chinese man arrested on suspicion of robbery reportedly told police he chose only men as victims because he was worried women might scream and attract attention, mainland media reports.
Police in Guiyang, the capital city of the southwest province of Guizhou, detained the suspect on Tuesday, after he had allegedly carried out a string of robberies armed with a wooden toy knife, Guizhou Business Daily reported on Wednesday.
The suspect, 20, identified only by his family name of Li, reportedly told police he had carried out robberies eight times before and always targeted men because “women like to scream, which can bring more troubles”, the newspaper said.
Li allegedly said he had used the toy knife in order to threaten people during the robberies, which he had bought for 10 yuan (HK$12).
He reportedly told police he was worried that using a real knife would have made him guilty of an even more serious crime, the newspaper said.
Police were contacted after a man reported he had been robbed by a another man on February 29.
Video footage taken by CCTV cameras in the area led police to identify Li as a possible suspect.
Li had allegedly been arrested by the police after carrying out a robbery at the age of 13, but had never been punished because of his age, the report said.
Police said they were investigating the case to see if they could trace other victims.
