Suspect A is apprehended by undercover officers. [Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency/Yonhap]
Suspect A is apprehended by undercover officers. [Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency/Yonhap]

A thief who stole a laptop from an electronics store and tried to resell it online was caught after police posed as a secondhand buyer to set up a sting.

The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said officers received a report on May 26 from an electronics store saying a laptop on display had gone missing two days earlier.

Investigators reviewed the store's closed-circuit television footage and identified the suspect — a woman in her 30s referred to as A — by her appearance. While monitoring secondhand trading sites, they found a listing they believed was for the stolen laptop, valued at 1.7 million won (about $1,110).

Officers then posed as interested buyers and arranged a face-to-face transaction with A, setting the meeting for around 9 p.m. that day near a department store in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon.

Members of the Galma District Police Unit 1 changed into plain clothes after their shift and staked out the scene. Officer Yeo Han-koo and one other colleague posed as buyers, while the remaining officers blended in as ordinary passersby.

When A arrived, she was wearing the same clothes she had on during the theft two days earlier. After confirming that the serial number on the laptop she presented matched that of the stolen device, officers arrested her on the spot and seized the laptop.

A woman in her 30s steals a laptop from an electronics store in Daejeon on May 24. [Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency]
A woman in her 30s steals a laptop from an electronics store in Daejeon on May 24. [Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency]

The investigation revealed that A had stolen three laptops and 10 items of clothing — worth a combined 8 million won — from electronics and clothing stores in Daejeon between May 24 and May 26.

The Daejeon Dunsan Police Station booked A on theft charges and sent the case to prosecutors with a detention request on June 1.


bbo@heraldcorp.com