Changnyeong Police Investigate Additional Crimes After Suspect Arrest
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] A suspect who stole and sold over 100 million KRW worth of electric wires more than twenty times from electrical construction companies in the Changnyeong area of Gyeongnam was caught by the police.
According to Changnyeong Police Station, Mr. A, the representative of an electrical construction company in Changnyeong-eup, received a call on the 6th from a representative of the same industry saying, "Electric wires were stolen, so check your warehouse and CCTV just in case."
While on vacation, Mr. A immediately called his employees to check the quantity of wires stored in the backyard and warehouse of the office and reviewed the CCTV footage.
The CCTV showed a man in his 30s secretly sneaking in more than 20 times between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. from July 18 to August 4, stealing electric wires.
Upon seeing the suspect’s appearance, Mr. A confirmed that the person resembled someone who had visited the office a week before the incident and asked questions related to construction.
According to Mr. A, Mr. B, in his mid-30s, had recently worked briefly at another electrical construction company and said he had come to "inspect the site" when he visited Mr. A’s office.
The police explained, "Even though the streetlights are bright and most of the office is equipped with CCTV, Mr. B committed the crimes by coming and going two to three times a day and even rented a 1-ton truck twice from a nearby scrap yard to steal the wires."
They also said, "He showed bold behavior, such as taking the wire cutters dedicated to electric wires from the business site and then returning them, acting as if the items belonged to his own company without any awareness of those around him."
During the police investigation, it was revealed that Mr. B sold the stolen electric wires to a nearby scrap yard for about 2 million KRW.
In an interview with a media outlet, the scrap yard owner said, "Mr. B asked to borrow a truck because some scrap would come out when cleaning the office warehouse, and he used that truck twice to load scrap metal," adding, "He brought electric wires in his RV trunk 4 to 5 times and paid 400,000 to 500,000 KRW each time."
The police stated, "Mr. B was arrested following a report from another electrical construction company," and added, "As of the 11th, there are 4 to 5 known victim companies in the Changnyeong area, and the damage amount is estimated to be close to 100 million KRW according to the victims’ calculations."
Mr. A appealed, "The theft suspect Mr. B calmly responded as if he had no sense of guilt, saying that when he came to inspect, he felt his heart tremble because there were so many electric wires near the office," and urged, "Please conduct a thorough investigation to prevent damage to small businesses already struggling due to COVID-19 and the economic downturn."
He added, "Electric wires do not fetch much money when sold as scrap, but construction companies pay between 10,000 KRW and up to 100,000 KRW per meter when purchasing."
Changnyeong Police Station plans to secure related evidence while investigating whether there are additional crimes through statements from suspect Mr. B, the scrap yard that purchased the wires, and related victim company personnel.
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