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One of two robbers grabs gold jewelry before escaping through the entrance of a jewelry shop in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province last Thursday. (Yangsan Police Station) |
Two robbers in their 20s were apprehended in South Gyeongsang Province last Thursday for their intensely quick-handed series of break-ins in Yangsan and Jinhae in the region, the Yangsan Police Station reported Monday.
The pair stormed into a jewelry shop in Yangsan at dawn on June 22, snatched gold bracelets and other valuables worth 20 million won, and made their escape -- all in under 17 seconds.
Security footage shows a man, wearing a helmet, shattering the storefront window with a hammer and raiding a glass display cabinet of jewelry. He made his escape in such a flash that it would have been nearly impossible for security to arrive in time, according to the Yangsan Police Station.
However, the Yangsan police proved just as speedy in tracking the thieves down, arresting the suspects just nine hours later on the same day in an office building located in Seomyeon, Busan, successfully recovering the stolen jewelry.
"These thieves, masked and quick, thought they were in the clear. Their surprise was evident when we nabbed them just nine hours post-crime," said Sung Sang-hoon, the detective in charge of the case.
The pair unknowingly triggered their own downfall as they had unsuccessfully attempted another break-in at a gold exchange two days earlier in Jinhae on June 20. The officers had already been on the suspects' trail from that day.
When the second crime occurred, the police connected the dots and eventually traced the suspects' entire route from Yangsan to Busan -- a distance of approximately 20 kilometers -- coalescing data from numerous cameras along the roads and in the two cities.
Both attributed their actions to having debt. At present, the duo, previously having worked together for a delivery company, are detained under arrest warrants issued on June 24.
