REGIONAL> Society
Sneaky thief pleads for his freedom
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-24 10:57

A sneaky thief was allowed to escape after a Good Samaritan stopped him and recovered a woman's cell phone and purse.

"I want to go home for the Spring Festival" the thief shouted.

Fu, the owner of a teashop, had just opened her store and dropped her purse and cell phone on a table before she began to sweep.

A moment later, a man dashed into the shop and grabbed her phone and purse, and ran out.

But a quick-thinking motorcycle driver outside the shop confronted the thief who dropped the items and asked the man to let him go.

He shouted: "Elder Brother, please let me go, for I don't want to be arrested by police. I want to go back to my hometown to spend the Spring Festival."

The man, surnamed Xu, felt sympathetic with the thief and let him go.

The thief ran away but thanked the man before he left.