'Super thief' stole 11 air conditioners from private homes and government agencies

On the afternoon of May 18, Ha Dong District Police (Hanoi) announced that they were detaining Nguyen Van Ve (born in 1988), from Nga Son, Thanh Hoa, who was staying in Dai Mo area, Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi, to investigate the act of "Theft of property".

Police escorted the suspect to the air conditioner condenser sales point. Photo: ANTĐ

Police determined that suspect Nguyen Van Ve is a freelancer with knowledge of electricity and water. Around March - April 2023, Ve ran out of work and was short of money, so he came up with the idea of ​​stealing an air conditioner's hot block to sell. Therefore, Ve prepared 2 wrenches, 1 electric pliers and 1 wooden chair.

At around 2:00 a.m. on May 15, Ve rode his motorbike around the area around Ha Dong market to look for an air conditioner condenser that could be easily stolen.

When arriving at Tran Hung Dao Street (Nguyen Trai Ward), Ve discovered 4 air conditioner condensers installed behind the wall of a government agency's headquarters. Seeing that no one was around, Ve stopped the car, took a wooden chair and placed it against the wall where the condensers were hung, then used a tool to remove the Nagakawa brand condensers and drove them straight back to his rented room.

Evidence of the case. Photo: ANTĐ

After that, Ve posted an ad for the air conditioner's condenser unit on social media, and a man named D.VS (born in 1989), residing in Me Linh district, Hanoi, asked to buy it. Ve asked Mr. S. to come to his rented room to make the transaction. At around 10:30 a.m. the same day, Mr. S. came to Ve's rented room and bought the above air conditioner condenser unit for more than 1.3 million VND.

At around 2:00 a.m. on May 16, Ve returned to the agency's headquarters to continue stealing 3 more air conditioners of the LG, DAIKIN, and Panasonic brands and brought them back to his rented room.

Ve sold 3 air conditioner condensers to Mr. TQL (born in 1981), who has an electrical appliance repair shop near where Ve is staying, for 2.6 million VND.

Receiving information about the incident, the police investigated, clarified and persuaded Ve to surrender and confess to his crime on May 17.

At the police station, Ve also confessed that in addition to the above theft, he also successfully stole 7 other air conditioners in Nam Tu Liem district.

Regarding the method of committing the crime, the suspect often takes advantage of loopholes in private homes and government offices after working hours when there is no one watching to steal property.