Police in Karaganda have detained a man following a taxi ride to a hotel — he is suspected in a series of thefts, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the information media portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in late August a bag with silver jewelry disappeared from the back seat of a taxi driver's car. Suspicion fell on a passenger who was dropped off at a hotel. After reporting the theft, the victim stayed at the scene to wait.
A patrol police crew that arrived to clarify the details took interest in two facts: the address from which the passenger had departed and his luggage — a bag full of cigarettes. Just over an hour earlier, a theft of cigarettes and money from a store had occurred at that same address, according to a bulletin.
From the suspect, who was taken to the police station, officers seized the stolen bag with its contents, 103 packs of cigarettes and 125,000 tenge from the store's cash register. During questioning, the 32-year-old man also confessed to a theft at a car wash on the other side of the city, where 1.3 million tenge disappeared from the cash register.
"The detainee operated according to a well-practiced scheme: he chose places with access to the cash register and small valuables, relying on the carelessness of the staff. Notably, in one case he did not even scorn small change from a taxi, which ultimately became the key lead for the investigation," the ministry said.
His involvement in other similar crimes is now being checked as part of a criminal case that has been opened.