A 38-year-old unemployed man with a predilection for expensive cologne was arrested following a string of thefts at Taipei department stores, police said yesterday.
The Taipei City Police Department said in a news release that its Xinsheng South Road Police Station received several reports earlier this year about perfume being stolen from department store counters.
After reviewing surveillance footage, police identified a common suspect in the thefts, who frequently used items such as a hat, umbrella or bag to apparently disguise himself before or after committing the crimes, it said.
Photo copied by CNA
After stealing the items, the suspect would travel to crowded shopping centers or night markets, or took public transportation to different areas to cover his tracks, police said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police said the man initially stole three bottles of cologne, valued at NT$7,200 each, from a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in mid-February.
About a week later, he stole a NT$16,000 bottle of cologne from a Far Eastern Sogo Department Store, and then continued with thefts at several department stores in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), police said.
Investigators identified the suspect as a resident of New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), surnamed Liu (劉).
After collecting sufficient evidence, police requested and received warrants to arrest Liu and search his home, where they found additional evidence of his thefts, it said.
During questioning, Liu told police that he loved wearing cologne, and began stealing it after he became unemployed.
As police found no evidence that Liu had tried to sell any of the stolen cologne, he was turned over to Taipei prosecutors to be investigated for larceny under the Criminal Code, it said.
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