At the beginning of the month a woman and two men were sleeping in an apartment on the 10th floor in a building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District where two of them live. At dawn they were suddenly startled by the sound of someone banging on the front door with a fire extinguisher. One of the men in the apartment, a guest named Hsiao Kuei-ping, unaware of why these people were doing this, risked his life by climbing out a window onto the building’s exterior wall, only to fall to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream.
Chen Han-ling, the 20-year-old female who rents the apartment, told the police that a girl known as Yaya had previously split the rent for the studio apartment with her. However, Chen had to kick out Yaya a few months before the incident because she was not paying her part of the rent. Chen’s boyfriend, Tsai Feng-jung, had also been trying to collect debts that Yaya owed her. This made Yaya seek the help of a few burly guys to threaten the couple.
The police were perplexed as to why Hsiao climbed out the 10-story window to hang on the wall instead of simply calling the police for help if he felt threatened. The police suddenly realized why when they found small amounts of amphetamines in the apartment.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
照片:自由時報記者吳柏軒
When the men started banging on the door with a fire extinguisher, Hsiao woke up in a panic. His natural instinct to seek shelter told him to climb out the window. He initially planned to climb over to the neighbor’s apartment, but because the awning below the window was not strong enough to sustain his weight, he fell 10 stories to the narrow alley below, seriously injuring himself in the fall.
Firefighters spent nearly an hour removing Hsiao from the alley before finally getting him to the hospital. After an emergency operation, he stayed in the intensive care unit for observation.
When the police questioned Chen and Tsai, their statements did not match. They initially said they were the victims of violent debt collectors, but eventually changed their story saying that Yaya had refused to pay back the money she owed them. They both admitted to taking amphetamine, but claimed that the drugs belonged to Yaya. The police detained both Chen and Tsai, and analyzed video footage from the surveillance cameras in the building to identify the men who banged on the door.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Taijing Wu)
新北市三重區一棟大樓十樓本月初凌晨,一女兩男原本於屋內就寢,當中兩人住三重區。門外傳來滅火器撞擊大門巨響,使屋內兩男一女驚慌失措。其中一男蕭魁平也沒搞清楚來人意圖,就冒死爬窗攀附十樓外牆,卻慘叫一聲跌落地面摔成重傷。
租住這房屋的是二十歲女子陳涵泠向警方供稱,另一位女子「雅雅」曾和她共租套房,幾個月前因遲遲不繳房租,只好將她趕出去。而男友蔡豐榮也向雅雅討債,致使雅雅找了數名壯漢撞門示威。
警方也對爬窗到十樓外牆的男子感到困惑。倘若怕來者不善,報警求助不就好了?直到在屋內查獲微量安非他命,警員才恍然大悟。
當壯漢持滅火器撞房門,男性訪客蕭魁平驚醒,本能地從窗戶爬出「避難」,原本打算爬到隔壁,但是遮雨棚承受不住重量,所以從十樓墜到一樓,掉落狹窄的防火巷摔成重傷。
消防局人員花了近一小時,才把蕭男抬出送醫,緊急開刀後在加護病房觀察。
警方偵訊陳女和她男友時,兩人口供前後不一。起先都說遭「暴力討債」,後來又改口說「對方欠錢不還」。兩人坦言吸食安非他命,並說毒品持有人是雅雅。警方將兩人移送,並調閱監視器找出撞門的惡漢。
(自由時報記者吳柏軒)
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