A recently released ex-convict was arrested and later detained after a failed attempt to steal NT$5 million (US$162,739) from a bank in Huwei Township (虎尾), Yunlin County, on Thursday last week by pretending to be armed, prosecutors and police said.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon, when the suspect, a 30-year-old man surnamed Lin (林), walked into a downtown Huwei bank and pretended to make a withdrawal.
He then threw a burlap bag toward a teller and shouted: "Put NT$5 million in the bag or I'll shoot," the Yunlin District Prosecutors' Office said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
However, a security guard realized that Lin did not appear to be carrying a weapon, despite keeping one hand inside his jacket as if holding a gun.
The guard rushed forward to stop Lin, but after a brief struggle, the would-be bank robber broke free and fled the scene, escaping in a taxi waiting outside.
Police from Huwei Precinct immediately launched an investigation and, after reviewing security footage, identified the suspect as Lin, who has previous convictions for drug-related offenses and had recently been released from prison.
After reporting the case to prosecutors, officers located and arrested Lin later that evening at a rented residence in Lunbei Township (崙背), seizing the burlap bag used during the attempted robbery, but finding no firearm, the statement said.
Lin initially denied the allegations, claiming he had gone to the bank to withdraw money, but later confessed to staging the attempted robbery as he was short on cash, after police confronted him with evidence.
Police said Lin, a Yunlin native, took a taxi from neighboring Changhua County, where he was living with his girlfriend, to commit the crime.
Prosecutors charged Lin with attempted robbery, adding that he posed a flight risk and could interfere with witness testimony.
The Yunlin District Court later approved a request to detain him incommunicado.
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.
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
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
RSS