A convicted thief has been accused of breaking into a mall’s offices three times in one day, stealing valuables from employee lockers and assaulting a witness with metal scissors.
The 24-year-old Bahraini defendant is standing trial at the High Criminal Court on charges of attempted robbery and assault.
He was previously found guilty in a theft case and served a year in prison for the offence.
In the alleged theft spree, he is said to have stolen two scanners, a computer monitor, some screwdrivers, a hammer, a luxury watch, a smart watch, four flash drives and 26 greeting cards.
When he returned to the office after being chased out, he allegedly stole a PlayStation 5 and two Nintendo Switch consoles.
“It was 8am when the defendant entered the office’s reception, and began searching the cabinets behind the front desk,” read a Public Prosecution summary of the incident.
“He unlocked a cabinet that contained keys to other compartments. He opened and then closed all of them, and took an item from the desk.
“He headed to a magnet-locked door, and opened it by passing the item underneath it. He then entered another office, took a bank card belonging to the company and rummaged through it.
“An employee, who came to the office to fetch some documents, noticed the defendant.”
When the 29-year-old Indian employee asked him what he was doing there, the defendant allegedly responded by assaulting him with a pair of scissors, striking his ear.
He then fled through the office’s emergency escape. After being informed of what had happened, a security guard kept an eye out for the defendant and was able to find him.
“I ran after the defendant and was filming him,” the 23-year-old guard said. “He went to another building, put the stolen items there, and came out at me with a piece of metal and I fled.
“I was, however, able to go back to the other building and retrieve the items.”
The defendant did not appear to be done, though.
He allegedly went back into the mall and stole gaming consoles from the offices. He left through an elevator, carrying several shopping bags with him.
One of the mall’s managers testified that he looked through CCTV footage and waited for the defendant outside the lift’s exit. The defendant reportedly dropped some of the bags as he started running.
He once again stashed his loot in another building and attempted to attack his pursuer with a piece of metal, then allegedly returned to the offices a third time to steal more items.
The employees found him in the other building and identified him.
The hearing has been adjourned to Tuesday for the defendant to appear in court.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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