Police Arrested Recidivists Of Empty House Theft In Malang

MALANG - Malang Resort Police (Polres) arrested two recidivist perpetrators of theft of empty houses who often act in Malang Regency, East Java.

Malang Police Chief AKBP Ferli Hidayat said two perpetrators, namely MY (41) and MK (42) had been named as suspects in the theft case with the weighting of an empty house specialist in the Gondanglegi District.

"We have determined the two suspects, namely MY and MK, both of whom are recidivist," said Ferli, as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, August 13.

Ferli explained that the two perpetrators had their respective roles when they carried out the theft in an empty house. The perpetrators are always looking for houses left by the homeowners.

According to him, MY has a role to take in the items in the empty house left by the owner, while MK monitors the surrounding conditions when carrying out the action.

"The two perpetrators have their respective roles, MY as the executor and MK as the supervisor around the time of the theft," he said.

The perpetrators entered the house abandoned by the owner by breaking the door or window. After damaging the doors and windows, the two perpetrators then took the victim's valuables.

Meanwhile, Gondanglegi Police Chief Kompol Pujiyono added, before arresting the two perpetrators, officers received a theft report from a resident of Sukorejo Village, Gondanglegi District, Malang Regency on July 28, 2022.

After receiving the report, officers continued to investigate and hunt down the perpetrators of the theft. On August 10, 2022, the Gondanglegi Police Criminal Investigation Unit found out the whereabouts of the perpetrators in the Malang City area.

"We conducted an investigation and succeeded in revealing the whereabouts of the perpetrators in the Gadang Village area, Malang City," he said.

At the time of his arrest, the officers also secured a number of pieces of evidence in the form of a motorcycle, a tablet and a knife that was used by the perpetrator at the time of the theft.

"From the last theft incident, the victim suffered a total loss of Rp. 60 million. There were a number of valuable items taken by the perpetrator, such as rings and bracelets," he said.

The two perpetrators are currently charged with Article 363 of the Criminal Code concerning the Crime of Theft with Weights and face a maximum prison sentence of seven years.