JEDDAH: Police have arrested eight persons who worked in unison to pickpocket members of the public in crowded areas of central Jeddah. Police said the group would target potential victims and provide cover from witnesses as an accomplice pretended to accidentally bump into targets, using a razor blade to open pockets and extract the contents. Police surveillance was prompted by numerous reports from the public and undercover officers initially identified three suspects and moved in to make an arrest while they were in the act of targeting a victim. Under questioning the three revealed that they worked in tandem with five other persons who were subsequently apprehended. “Investigations are continuing with eight detained persons to establish the extent of their activities,” a police spokesman said. Suspect admits crimes An Arab expatriate succeeded in breaking into a number of shops in Al-Balad District, but failed to get what he wanted, as he could not break open the safes, but authorities got what they wanted – fingerprints left by the suspect, police said. That evidence led to his arrest and investigations are pending, police added. The fingerprints found at a crime scene matched those of the accused, aged 22, police said, adding that several shopkeepers in the Al-Balad District had reported to police that an unidentified person broke into their shops, tried unsuccessfully to open the safes and fled. Security officials collected evidence including fingerprints and footprints, and the shop workers' fingerprints, police said. A worker's fingerprints matched those found at a crime scene and the man was summoned, police added. According to statements by salesmen and workers in the area, the man whose fingerprints matched those in the burglarized shops used to hang around their shops, which raised suspicions, according to police. He initially denied any involvement in the incidents, but he confessed after being told that his fingerprints matched those discovered police, officials said. Brig. Gen. Misfir Al-Ju'aid, official spokesman of Jeddah Police, said security authorities took the accused man into custody after documenting his confession. It should not be long before the suspect is referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution, Gen. Al-Ju'aid added.
