Teenagers 'Sneak' Through Store Shutter Gap to Steal 16 Million Won Worth of Goods and 'Carrot' Away

Police Booked Without Detention on Charges of Special Theft

Two teenagers who stole smartphones while roaming an underground shopping area deserted late at night were caught by the police.

On the 24th, the police announced that they have booked teenagers A and B without detention on charges of special theft and are investigating them. They committed the crime around midnight on the 10th by breaking into a smartphone store in an underground shopping center in Uijeongbu City.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the released closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, B slightly lifted the shutter of the closed store to create a gap, and A quickly crawled under it. Using this method, they entered the store, stole nine smartphones and department store gift certificates worth about 16 million won, and fled.

It was also investigated that they used the same method to rob two other smartphone stores and a clothing store in the same underground shopping area since April. The stolen smartphones were all sold on secondhand markets and converted into cash.

After receiving the report, the police analyzed the CCTV and urgently arrested A and B at a motel in Uijeongbu City on the 12th. They were identified as high school students from another region.

The police applied for arrest warrants for them, but the prosecution did not request the warrants considering they are juvenile offenders. The investigation will continue while they remain free, and the case will be sent to the prosecution afterward.

Meanwhile, last year, two first-year middle school students were involved in multiple thefts of goods around the traditional market and underground shopping area near Dongincheon Station.

The students stole items such as beverages from unmanned stores and underground shopping centers from May to August last year. During this process, they were also charged with assaulting merchants and security guards.

The police sent the case to the juvenile division on charges of joint assault and special theft under the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts, considering that the students were under 14 years old and thus classified as juvenile offenders exempt from criminal liability.