On Monday afternoon, Lien Chieu District police officers successfully arrested a criminal who had snatched a smartphone from a domestic visitor.   The offender was 21-year-old Duong Van Hoang from Quang Binh Province’s Le Thuy District, and the victim was 32-year-old Nguyen Thanh Tu from Ha Noi.

Duong Van Hoang (Photo: phapluatplus.vn)

At around 10.00am that day, Ms Tu and a group of her friends were riding their motorcycles over the Hai Van Pass, en route from Thua Thien-Hue Province to Da Nang.  Tu, who was sitting on the pillion seat, was taking some photos of the views of the surrounding landscape with her iPhone6S when Hoang, riding his motorbike in the same direction, suddenly snatched her smartphone and drove away.

As soon as the district’s police officers were informed of the robbery by Ms Tu, they immediately conducted an investigation to track down the robber.  He was apprehended at around 3.00pm the same day whilst he was fleeing to Thua Thien-Hue Province.

During interrogation, Hoang admitted his guilt and handed over the stolen property to the police who returned it to the victim.  The offender also confessed to snatching a smartphone from a female foreign tourist on the Hai Van Pass on 18 November and selling it for 1 million VND.

The man will be charged with ‘property robbery by snatching’ pursuant to Article 136 of the Penal Code.