Chandra (second right), deputy city police chief Superintendent Mohd Azhar Hamin (second left) and CID chief DSP Nor Azizulkifli Mansor (right) showing the wedding dresses that were recovered from the suspects.
KOTA KINABALU: The so-called ‘family of thieves’ who were caught on CCTV stealing baskets of items from a supermarket in Putatan on Feb 21 this year is believed to have also stolen a wedding dress from a bridal shop at Likas Plaza here on the same day.
The suspects, a family comprising the husband and wife, their daughter and a sister, managed to steal a wedding dress by hiding it underneath a modified robe before calmly walking out of the shop in broad daylight.
The alleged incident happened between 2.30pm and 3.30pm on Feb 21, said city police chief ACP M. Chandra.
According to a police report lodged by the shop owner, the suspects entered the shop pretending to be customers and started asking lots of questions.
“One of the women suspects tried a couple of dresses, assisted by a shop assistant, while her husband distracted the shop owner’s attention by making small talk.
“This allowed the other two suspects to around walk around freely inside the premises and steal a wedding dress that was on display, and hid it underneath their robe that had been modified,” Chandra told a press conference at the city police headquarters in Karamunsing here yesterday.
He said that based on the police report lodged by the owner and the description of the suspects, police managed to arrest one of the suspects, a 20-year-old woman, at Kampung Warisan, Inanam on Feb 27 around 12.30am.
“Two hours later, police detained the second suspect, a 49-year-old woman, at Kampung Pangalat, Papar at 2.30am while the third suspect, a 30-year-old woman, was picked up by police at Taman Sepanggar around 12.30pm,” he said, adding that police were now looking for the male suspect.
Chandra said that police recovered close to 10 stolen wedding dresses worth RM7,000 from the suspects.
Meanwhile, Chandra said investigation was still being carried out to determine if the suspects were the same suspects who carted away baskets of sundry goods from the supermarket in Putatan on Feb 21.
“We will contact our counterparts in Penampang,” he said, adding that the case would be investigated under Section 380 of the Penal Code.