A Panchiao prosecutor yesterday said he hoped that his completion in only three days of the investigation and indictment of the three suspects in a Sanhsia robbery case will be seen by criminals as a sign that law-enforcement officials won't let their guard down.
"Criminals should learn from this that we will never give them a break," Lo Sung-fang (羅松芳), chief prosecutor of the Panchiao Pros-ecutors' Office, told the Taipei Times.
"I hope this can be a reminder to people who are tempted to break the law," Lo said.
The three suspects, Lo Sheng (羅聖), Chen Shu-kun (陳樹坤) and Tseng Chiu-kai (曾秋凱) were indicted yesterday on robbery charges in connection with the theft on Nov. 5 of NT$150,000 from an elderly married couple who own a Sanhsia restaurant.
The serving of the indictment transfers the case from prosecutors to the courts.
Police had told reporters on Nov. 9, the day the three were arrested, that the suspects had beaten the couple, bruising them, and tied them up.
Lo Sung-fang said, however, that evidence and the statements of the three led him to believe that the couple had suffered bruises not as a result of a beating, but in the course of a brief scuffle with the thieves as the pair tried to prevent their escape.
He also said that the three had tied the couple up in such a way that they would be able to free themselves quickly, indicating that the suspects simply wanted to buy time to escape rather than cause harm. The victims did not require any medical treatment.
The police arrested the suspects on Saturday, transferring them to prosecutors immediately, after they admitted to the crime during a short police interview.
Lo Sung-fang is seeking a 12-year prison term for Lo Sheng, whom he described as the mastermind behind the crime, and 10 years each for Chen and Tseng.
The three remain in custody at Taipei Detention House. A date for their trial has not yet been set.
Prosecutors' investigations usually last weeks or even months.
Lo said that he had expedited this case by staying in his office for three entire days, but said that he was aided by the fact that the three had confessed and that the case was relatively straightforward.
"As long as we have enough evidence, or a confession from the suspects themselves, I would prefer to finish the work [investigation and indictment] within the shortest possible time and let the judges do the rest," he said.
Lo Sung-fang said he believed it was necessary to punish criminals as quickly as possible, especially in the Sanhsia area, where already high crime rates continue to increase.
The restaurant robbery occurred only three days after KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) was robbed in the area.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS