Teen robbers bash heads, get caught

Police arrested three teenage males in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, who attempted to rob nine people by knocking them out with punches to the head.

The three needed money to rent a one-room studio.

They employed an increasingly common form of assault called “hit and rob,” in which an assailant targets people walking alone - usually a woman on the street at night or a drunk man - strikes them in the back of the head hard enough to knock them out and then steals money or valuables.

Seoul Gwangjin Police said Monday the teenagers - two aged 16 and one aged 18 - accosted nine people in Jayang-dong and Seongsu-dong in Gwangjin District on Oct 2.

CCTV footage showed the group in action. One member of the gang would stick out his foot to trip a passing woman or man and then all three would try to render their victim unconscious.

But the teens failed to knock out any of their victims, who fought back spiritedly.

The CCTV footage shows one woman fiercely resisting the gang. It also shows them approaching one potential victim and then backing off when a passerby came from the opposite direction.

“I think our strength was weak, which made the robberies fail,” one of the teenagers told local media. “We didn’t even know there were CCTV cameras.”

After viewing CCTV footage, police asked people in the area if they knew the suspects and then arrested them.

The teens told police they came from the same rural area and wanted money to rent a one-room studio.

“We didn’t have any money or a place to sleep,” the oldest teenager, surnamed Sim, told the media. “We just wanted a room to hang out.”

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [머니투데이]

부녀자·취객 `퍽치기` 10대…9차례 범행 모두 미수

서울 광진경찰서는 주로 여성과 취객을 상대로 속칭 ‘퍽치기’를 시도한 혐의(강도미수 등)로 심모군(18) 등 10대 3명을 불구속 입건했다고 11일 밝혔다.

경찰조사 결과 이들은 지난 2일 새벽에 서울 광진구 자양동과 성동구 성수동 일대에서 출근하는 여성이나 취객을 뒤따라가 한명이 발을 걸어 넘어뜨리고 나머지 2명이 달려들어 주먹과 발로 마구 때린 뒤 가방이나 지갑 등 금품을 뺏으려 했다.

그러나 피해자들이 거세게 저항하는 바람에 총 9차례에 걸친 범행이 모두 미수에 그친 것으로 조사결과 밝혀졌다. 이들은 지난 5일 군산에서는 SUV 차량 한대를훔치기도 한 것으로 조사됐다.

경찰 관계자는 “이들이 가출한 뒤 고시원 방값을 마련하려 일을 꾸민 것으로 보고 추가 범행에 대해 조사 중에 있다”고 말했다.