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A convicted thief who broke into a mall’s offices three times in the same day, stealing valuables from employee lockers and assaulting a witness with a pair of metal scissors, has been found guilty of robbery.
During the stealing spree, he plundered two scanners, a computer monitor, several screwdrivers, a hammer, a luxury watch, a smartwatch, four flash drives and 26 greeting cards.
Although he was chased out, he returned to the offices later that day and stole a PlayStation 5 and two Nintendo Switch consoles.
The 24-year-old Bahraini was sentenced to five years in prison by the High Criminal Court, having previously served a one-year jail term, also for theft.
The burglary began early on the day of the incident, at 8am, when the defendant entered the office reception area and began searching through the cabinets behind the front desk.
According to the Public Prosecution, he managed to find a key that unlocked other cabinets, and looked inside them all, before taking a key card from the desk.
He was able to unlock the door to the offices, rummaged through their contents, and took a company bank card.
A 29-year-old Indian employee who had come to the office to fetch some documents noticed the defendant and asked him what he was doing there. The thief reportedly responded by assaulting him with a pair of scissors, striking him on the ear before fleeing through the office’s emergency exit.
A 23-year-old security guard who was informed about the incident kept watch for the defendant and was able to locate him, he testified.
“I ran after the defendant and was filming him,” the Bahraini guard said.
“He went to another building, left the stolen items there, and came at me with a piece of metal, and so I ran.
“I was able to return to the other building and retrieve the items.”
The defendant did not appear to be done, though. He 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 was able to intercept him at the lift exit, and the defendant dropped some of the bags as he started running.
Again, he stashed his loot in another building and attempted to attack his pursuer with a piece of metal before returning to the offices a third time to steal more items. The employees found him in the building and identified him, and authorities were then able to arrest him.
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