Cloth thief jumps from third floor of Pasaraya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A 20-year-old man who was apprehended on
\nThursday morning by security guards after being caught stealing
\nclothes at the seven-story Pasaraya department store in Blok M,
\nSouth Jakarta, decided to escape by taking a free fall from the
\nthird floor of the building.<\/p>\n
Police said the suspected thief, Slamet Widodo, was alive but
\nin a comatose condition at Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat
\nJati, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Reporters received two versions of the capture and the
\ndangerous escape of Slamet.<\/p>\n
But both versions revealed that Slamet was caught by two
\nsecurity guards of the store on Wednesday afternoon for allegedly
\nstealing clothes from Pasaraya.<\/p>\n
According to the police, Slamet jumped from a window on the
\nthird floor after the two security guards, who caught the thief
\non Wednesday, removed his handcuffs.<\/p>\n
\"We have questioned the security guards, Sulianto and Suroto,
\nas to why they did not hand the thief over to the police
\nimmediately after they caught him stealing?<\/p>\n
\"So far, the two guards have been unable to give us straight
\nanswers,\" South Jakarta Police chief of detectives Maj. Ahmad
\nAlwi said.<\/p>\n
The guards, he said, only told police investigators that they
\nagreed to unlock Slamet's handcuffs at about 3:40 a.m. on
\nThursday following a request from the suspect, who said he wanted
\nto see wounds on his wrists which were caused by the handcuffs.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the guards agreed to remove the handcuffs,
\nSlamet ran away from the stunned pair and jumped from a window.<\/p>\n
According to a member of staff at the store, Budi, the thief
\nwas arrested at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday after he was found
\nstealing about 20 items of clothing, whose prices ranged from Rp
\n95,000 (US$13) to Rp 700,000, on the first floor of the store.<\/p>\n
\"The security guards then arrested him and locked the guy into
\nan empty room on the third floor.<\/p>\n
\"The thief jumped out of the window in that room, and
\nseriously injured himself,\" Budi told reporters.<\/p>\n
Officer Alwi questioned why the security guards did not
\nimmediately report the nabbing of Slamet to the police.<\/p>\n
\"The (suspected) thief was also beaten up after he was caught.
\nThe guards should have immediately surrendered him to us shortly
\nafter they apprehended him,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A police source added that some of the store's security guards
\nhad been known to often blackmail suspected thieves.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, if a suspect steals something worth Rp 100,000,
\nthe guard would ask for three times the amount,\" the source said.<\/p>\n
Nobody from the Pasaraya public relations department was
\nwilling to comment on the matter. (ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cloth-thief-jumps-from-third-floor-of-pasaraya-1447893297",
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