The thieves being led to Gita Police Station following their arrest.
KUCHING: Three thieves spent hours hiding in a jungle before surrendering after being overcome by hunger and the mid-day heat yesterday.
The suspects, in their 20s and 30s, were said to have broken into a factory in Demak Laut some time before dawn and were about to escape with bags of rice and sugar when security guards came across them.
To avoid capture, the trio dashed into a nearby secondary jungle behind the factory but soon realised there was no other way out. They then played a waiting game in the hope that the guards would eventually tire and leave.
By noon, however, they decided to exit the jungle after being overcome by hunger and heat and surrendered to the guards, who called the police to arrest them.
Police were later able to recover the stolen items along with several tools believed to have been used to break into the factory.
The suspects, all from the Bako area, were subsequently detained at Gita Police Station Pending further investigation.
In a separate case, a man was arrested at his home in Semariang on Monday night on suspicion of committing snatch theft earlier the same day.
The 29-year-old was picked up at 10.30pm by a police team from Simpang Tiga district police headquarters following a tip-off from the public.
He and a still-at-large accomplice are suspected to have snatched a purse belonging to a 20-year-old student around 4.30pm in Petra Jaya during which they rode abreast with the victim’s motorcycle before striking.
The suspect is being held at the Tabuan Jaya Police Station to facilitate investigation.
Meanwhile, another man was arrested around noon yesterday after allegedly snatching a 41-year-old woman of her handbag near a bakery in Satok.
Members of the public who witnessed the incident went after the suspect and managed to collar him before handing him over to the police.
The stolen bag, which contained about RM100, was recovered and returned to the victim who subsequently lodged a police report.