Feeling wronged, a thief who walked into a police station in Nanjing to complain that he was beaten by the very person whom he was looking to steal, has become the latest oddity in a long series of increasingly bizarre situations for local law enforcement.
The case that is both a literal and proverbial slap in the face all began when the man, surnamed Liu, walked into the Huaihai Lu Police Station in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou, clutching the left side of his face. Addressing the desk officer, Liu was seeking justice after claiming that he had just been assaulted.
As luck would have it, a passing plain-clothes police officer thought he recognised Liu and asked him to wait. Conferring on the incident, officers at the station quickly noted that two burglaries had taken place in their precinct during the past few days and there may be a connection.
Pulling the footage captured by surveillance cameras in the vicinity, officers noted that the description of a man seen on the streets directly after the robberies was a perfect match for Liu.
While Liu confessed to the two burglaries upon interogation, it also transpired that he had attempted a third but had fled the scene after being caught in the act by the homeowner.
Somewhat foolishly, Liu remained in the area and the following morning was recognised by the homeowner, who then approached Liu as if meaning a discussion. Liu was taken aback when the homeowner instead gave him a swift, sharp slap across the face.
Speaking in a video report published by The Paper, officer Xing Yanfei of the Huaihai Lu Police Station said, “In the end, we gave him the fairest outcome; criminal detention”, going to show that a policeman’s instinct is rarely wrong.
Nanjing’s coppers have over the years become quite used to investigating the unusual; The Nanjinger has previously reported on anything from compulsive stealing disorders to family disputes outwith the realm of police work.
In 2014, a Nanjing lady confessed that her addiction to beautiful shoes led to her arrest after stealing more than 20 pairs from families for whom she was baby sitting. And as recently as earlier this month, another Nanjing woman called in the police after her son refused to do his school homework.
