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Thief plotted his Palace Museum heist, police says
By Zhao Wen |
May 17, 2011, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
BEIJING police said the thief who stole jewelry boxes from the Palace Museum on May 8 did not act off-the-cuff, but had plotted his action beforehand, the People's Daily reported today.
Police said Shi Baikui, the thief, confessed that he first visited the museum to check out the area, unlike his earlier claim that he stole the exhibits after listening to a guide's introduction.
"I watched a TV program about the Palace Museum and began to think about stealing from it," Shi said.
He said he studied the layout of the museum and checked out routes leading to the moat that encircles the Imperial Palace, also known as the Forbidden City. He paid special attention to the museum's closing time when security guards made the final round of patrol.
Shi said he sneaked into the museum again on May 8 around 10am, hid in a narrow passage near the jewelry exhibition hall when it rained, and successfully evaded the last patrol. At about 8pm, he turned off the power switch in this section of the museum and broke a window to enter the exhibition hall.
After stealing nine delicate jewelry boxes, Shi climbed over a compound wall but was spotted a 60-year-old guard, while the man was reporting his catch over the phone, Shi fled and hid under a car and escaped an ensuing search. Finally, he scaled over the 8-meter-high palace wall and disappeared.
The People's Daily said the museum guards had heard the "breakdown" alert when Shi turned off the power switch, but none of them went to check what happened, violating to the museum rules.
Six of the stolen objects have been retrieved with slight damages, the other three are still missing, the report said.
Police said Shi Baikui, the thief, confessed that he first visited the museum to check out the area, unlike his earlier claim that he stole the exhibits after listening to a guide's introduction.
"I watched a TV program about the Palace Museum and began to think about stealing from it," Shi said.
He said he studied the layout of the museum and checked out routes leading to the moat that encircles the Imperial Palace, also known as the Forbidden City. He paid special attention to the museum's closing time when security guards made the final round of patrol.
Shi said he sneaked into the museum again on May 8 around 10am, hid in a narrow passage near the jewelry exhibition hall when it rained, and successfully evaded the last patrol. At about 8pm, he turned off the power switch in this section of the museum and broke a window to enter the exhibition hall.
After stealing nine delicate jewelry boxes, Shi climbed over a compound wall but was spotted a 60-year-old guard, while the man was reporting his catch over the phone, Shi fled and hid under a car and escaped an ensuing search. Finally, he scaled over the 8-meter-high palace wall and disappeared.
The People's Daily said the museum guards had heard the "breakdown" alert when Shi turned off the power switch, but none of them went to check what happened, violating to the museum rules.
Six of the stolen objects have been retrieved with slight damages, the other three are still missing, the report said.
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