Five men held in connection with Apollo Chen attack

Five men suspected of robbing KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) in Taipei County early last month were arrested yesterday, police said.

Police identified the five men as Yang Hsien-liang (楊賢亮), Chen Ching-hau (陳慶浩), Tung Ping-chung (董炳忠), Yang Tsung-wei (楊宗偉) and Huang Ming-yen (黃名言).

Tung was nabbed in Taichung and the four others were arrested in Linkou. The suspected mastermind, Yang Hsien-liang, is in his 40s while the others are in their early 20s.

The five are accused of robbing Apollo Chen at gunpoint on Nov. 2, taking NT$10,000 in cash, his cellphone and car keys.

Chen said two cars -- a Honda Civic and a Mitsubishi Virage -- forced him off the road while he and his wife were driving through Sanhsia.

He said a man pretending to ask for directions approached his car and was quickly followed by two other men. All three men drew pistols and forced Chen to hand over all his valuables.

Police said that over the past month more than 30,000 Honda Civic and Mitsuibishi Virage cars nationwide and some 1,000 places suspected of dealing in stolen cars were checked.

Apollo Chen said he is grateful to Taipei County police for their hard work on the case.