Fri, Jun 18, 2004 page2

• After crimes, cops announce crackdown

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  In response to two major crimes that occurred on Wednesday ? a shooting in Taichung and a case of arson in Keelung -- the National Police Administration announced yesterday that it was to begin a four-day crackdown on gangsters, especially targeting gangsters who possess illegal weapons.

  "Two major crimes happened on the same day. It is necessary for us [police] to do something," a press release from the administration said.

  "The crackdown will be launched at 6pm on Thursday and will last for four days. Gangsters with illegal firearms will be our priority targets," the statement said.

  The administration requested that the public be on the lookout for arsonists because cases of arson have been on the increase lately.

  In the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting in Taichung City, Sergeant Yeh Hsi-tsai (葉錫財) is still in a coma, with doctors having removed 27 pieces of bone from his skull.

  "When he arrived at the hospital, he did not have a pulse," said Wang You-chi (王有智), chief cranial nerve surgeon at the Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.

  "His condition for the next three to five days is likely to remain critical. I am sorry to say that even if he survives, it is quite possible that he'll be left in a vegetative state."

  According to Wang, Yeh was shot in the face. A bullet entered near his nose on the right side of his face and exited through his left ear.

  Though the bullet did not pass through his brain, the heat of the bullet damaged his brainstem.

  Meanwhile, police arrested another suspect in the shootout -- Wu Su-yu (吳思諭). Police also announced that they are seeking two more suspects: Chang Fu-shun (張富順), who is alleged to be the mastermind of the crime group, and a man police identified only by his nickname -- "Fatty."

  Wu is said to have been the girlfriend of Shih An-ming (施安明), the man believed to have killed Sergeant Lee Chin-fu (李進富) and injured Yeh and Detective Lin Wen-wu (林文武).

  Shih was shot dead after he opened fire on Lin while Lin was attempting to negotiate with him.

  Another suspect, Huang Chun-chieh (黃俊傑), was arrested at the scene Wednesday.

  The shootout began when police arrived at a warehouse where a ransom that the group had demanded was supposed to have been paid. The shooting began when police attempted to arrest two of the group's members.

  After the shooting, Huang Yung-hsing (黃永興), the group's kidnap victim, was rescued. He has since visited police officers involved in the shootout, and their families, to express his gratitude.

  "I will help Lee's family financially as much as I can. I am grateful for what officers did for me, and I am sorry for their families," Huang said.

  The case of arson occurred Wednesday evening, when a five-storey building on Yi-yi Road in Keelung burst into flames. The fire took the lives of three males and two females, and the police later announced that it had been a case of arson.

  Police say that the building housed a KTV on the second floor and a nightclub on the third floor. The building's fourth and fifth floors were vacant.

  Seventeen people escaped from the building during the fire. All the victims were customers of the KTV or the nightclub.

  According to Keelung Chief Prosecutor Lai Cheng-sheng (賴正聲), law enforcement officers are looking for an Ilan man whose wife worked as a waitress at the KTV.

  Police say that witnesses' testimony suggests that he might be the arsonist, and that video footage from a nearby convenience store supports that theory.

  "A waitress told us that her husband had been upset about her working at the KTV, but that she had to work there anyway to make money," Lai said.

  "We are trying to find this man. He has been missing for days," Lai said.
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