Click here to see the Chinese text for these stories
1. Cop Poses as "Beautiful Sexpot"
Text Messaging "Hooks" Suspect
Correspondents Wei Chongjie, Wei Peng and Wei Lai, from Luzhai County
A man, Mr. Guo, run off to the city of Nantong in Jiangsu Province to join up with others in a spree of thievery. When his accomplices were arrested, Mr. Guo fled back to his old home in Luzhai to hide out. After receiving a BOLO [Be On the LookOut] from the Jiangsu police, the Luzhai police instituted a search. An officer posing as a "beautiful sexpot" had a "micro-chat" with Mr. Guo via text messaging. While Mr. Guo was daydreaming about meeting this "beautiful woman", a pair of ice-cold handcuffs was snapped onto his wrists.
On the afternoon of May 23 of this year, a theft occurred in a certain community in Hai'an town in Nantong, Jiangsu. Cash, diamond rings, bracelets, high-end wines, tobacco products and other belongings with a total value of almost 10,000 Yuan [≈$1,640] were stolen from the Chen family, residential home owners. The local public security organs cracked the case and arrested several suspects, but one member of the gang, Mr. Guo, escaped. He is from Luzhai [near Liuzhou] in Guangxi Province, and the Jiangsu police figured he had fled to his old stomping grounds to hide, so they issued a BOLO to the Luzhai police. On June 8, the Nantong, Jiangsu police followed a lead and tracked him to Luzhai, so they joined forces with the Luzhai police to find and arrest him.
The Luzhai police attached great importance to this case and fully cooperated with the investigation. They discovered that Luzhai is Mr. Guo's domicile but he currently has no fixed residence and his whereabouts were unknown. They found no trace of him when they went to his former home. On June 15, they learned from an acquaintance that Mr. Guo likes texting and often chats with "mini-friends" via text message. The police beat him at his own game and arranged for a female officer to friend Mr. Guo and start a chat with him. Gradually Mr. Guo got into chatting with this sweet-sounding "girl mini-friend" and asked to see her "art photo". When he saw the pictures she sent, he liked this great-looking "girl mini-friend" with the sexy, hot body even more. Taking advantage of the fact that Mr. Guo was head over heels in love, the "girl mini-friend" suggested coyly several times, "When someone sends you their picture, you should return the favor." Mr. Guo immediately sent a picture of himself wearing a fancy chain around his neck. The investigating officer took one look and saw that it was the Mr. Guo that the Nantong, Jiangsu police wanted to apprehend. In response to progressively more detailed inquiries by the "girl mini-friend", which he did not realize were planned, Mr. Guo revealed everything about the community where he was living near a certain Luzhai market. He also asked his "girl mini-friend" out to eat. She at first made excuses, but later gladly accepted.
The next evening, police officers arrested Mr. Guo while he was at home getting dressed up for his "date with a beautiful woman".
At this time the Luzhai police have already handed the suspect Mr. Guo over to the Nantong, Jiangsu police.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-06-20, p. 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. On Duty Cops in Accident, One Dead One Injured
Witness Claims Police Chase, Cops Say No
Daily Reporter Wang Jian, Correspondent Xu Baoshan
Yesterday at about 4:00 p.m., two on duty Liuzhou City Security Police Patrol team members were on a police motorcycle passing under the south approach ramp to the Double Rapids Bridge when they were hit by a Dongfeng Motor Company Dragon Lord heavy-duty truck. They were dragged to the rear and under the truck. The male Auxiliary Officer who was driving the motorcycle during the accident died at the scene. The female Auxiliary Officer who was riding on the back, a Ms. Huang, was seriously injured with a broken and crushed left leg.
Spectacle at Scene Too Horrible to Endure
Yesterday afternoon, when your reporter rushed to the scene of the accident, the injured female Auxiliary Officer had already been rescued by personnel of the Central Westside Fire Squadron who responded to the call. She had already been taken to the hospital as well. Traffic police were then setting up cones to form a police line, temporarily closing off the area surrounding the scene of the accident.
Inside the police cordon, the deceased was lying face down in a horizontal position in a pool of blood under the right front wheel of the "Dragon Lord heavy truck" that had killed him; a police motorcycle with the words "Liuzhou Patrol" in large characters on the windshield was upside-down on the road a few meters to the right-front of the truck. Numerous bloodstains could be seen in front of the truck's two sets of rear wheels.
"A terrible thing!" many onlookers said. Your reporter questioned them one by one and learned that they were not near the scene when the accident happened and had not seen what happened. Further, the officer responsible for the investigation and handling of the accident indicated that the cause of the accident is still under investigation and, for the time being, it would not be convenient to reveal more details.
One Auxiliary Officer Dead, Another Injured
Your reporter also saw several Auxiliary Officers from the West Ring Road Precinct of the Liuzhou City Public Security Bureau near the scene. They confirmed that the two Security Police Patrol team members involved in the accident were their colleagues. The man who died, Officer Chen, had been a member of the Auxiliary Police Team for two and a half years. It was his police motorcycle that was in the accident. The woman who was seriously injured, Officer Huang, joined the Auxiliary Police Team three years ago. At the time of the accident, the two were turning right from Big Grindstone Road into the auxiliary lane on the south approach ramp to the Double Rapids Bridge. They were on the way to the West Ring Road Precinct to go off duty.
Fire Brigade personnel at the scene explained that when they arrived in response to an alarm, the male Auxiliary Officer under the right front wheel of the truck involved in the accident had already died on the spot from a crushed back. The female Auxiliary Officer, on the other hand, was pressed under the rear wheel on one side of the "Dragon Lord heavy truck". Her left leg was badly mangled, but she was conscious and was using a mobile phone to call for help.
The Fire Brigade personnel used a crowbar and hydraulic rescue equipment to pull the injured woman out in only five minutes, and turned her over to personnel from the 120 Emergency Team for emergency treatment. Your reporter has learned that her left leg was broken and crushed. If she had not been taken care of in timely fashion, her life would have been seriously threatened.
Chase Caused Spill?
A fireman also told your reporter that eyewitness Mr. Tan described how the accident happened as follows: The two Security Police Patrol team members intercepted the "Dragon Lord heavy truck" that caused the accident for incessantly throwing mud. They gestured for the driver to stop, but the truck that caused the accident was at a bend in the road and didn't slow down at all. It knocked the Auxiliary Officers and their motorcycle directly to the ground, resulting in the tragedy.
But a responsible person in West Ring Road Precinct, in an interview with reporters, denied the above story. He said that this accident is just an accident. At present the police are still conducting an intensive investigation.
(Material provided by: Miss Hao /30 Yuan reward for clues)
South China Daily, 2013-06-16, p. 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Drunk "Soaks" Women, Gets Beaten
Man Promptly Apologizes After Sobering Up
Correspondent Xu Wenqiu, Dispatch to the Evening News
Yesterday at about 5:00 a.m. near the downstairs of the Galaxy Building on Park Road in the city, a young man who had been eating and drinking to his heart's content came upon four sexy women having a late snack at a curbside night market stall. He was tempted, and thought up an excuse to go over and harass them. As a result, he was beaten by the women's friends.
Police rushed to the scene and found the drunk looking crestfallen, with bloodstains on his face.
Eyewitness Mr. Yang told police that four young women, a Ms. Ma and a Ms. Hou among them, had been talking and laughing while they ate hot and spicy soup at the curbside. Suddenly a young man staggered over and stared fixedly and lecherously at the four well-dressed women. Then he had the gall to step up to them and try to strike up a conversation. He fished some money out of his pocket to buy food and drinks to share with them at a table, but the women flatly rejected him and told him to go away. The man, humiliated and angry, sprinkled his drink on the women, saying he wanted to soak them, and the two sides started arguing. Miss Ma, Miss Hou and the others were alarmed and screamed "You're Crazy!" as they ran away.
The drunk got really mad when he saw what was happening. He made a call on his cell phone and said he was getting someone to clean their clocks. But Miss Ma's friend, Young Liu, and some others heard about it and immediately rushed to the scene. They told the drunk they would forget about it if he apologized to the women. Unexpectedly, the drunk started to talk trash. He claimed he hadn't splashed his drink on them so why should he apologize. Feeling powerful from the alcohol, he put up his fists and made to strike Liu. This really made Liu angry and he punched the drunk several times. Passers-by came forward to stop the fight and called the police. When officers from the May First Police Affairs Station arrived, the drunk seemed to have sobered up. "I was wrong, I apologize. It's my fault for drinking too much." Investigation indicated that the drunken man is a Mr. Lee, age 24, from the city of Fuzhou in Fujian Province. He is currently doing business in Liuzhou. He had had a lot to drink before causing the disturbance.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-07-08, p. 7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Everyone Ignores Fallen Senior
Electric Power Grid Employees Reach Out to Help
Correspondents Mo Juyan, Liu Jinfeng
Dispatch to the Evening News – On the morning of the 8th, while going to the next home on a safety inspection patrol, Electric Power Grid employees stationed in the Magnificent Liuzhou Community in North Liuzhou District discovered an old woman who had accidentally been knocked down by motorcycle. She was sitting in a crosswalk in the street and no one was paying any attention to her.
The Community Power Grid employees immediately stepped forward and supported the old woman by the arm as she walked to a nearby flowerbed and sat down. It made them very anxious when the old woman began to present symptoms such as vomiting, swollen hands and back pain. They stayed with her and cared for her, and helped her contact the police and the 120 emergency medical hotline. They also went through the community Power Grid [records] to find her family.
The old woman was thus able to receive timely assistance for her condition, averting the risk of serious harm. Her family expressed gratitude to the community Power Grid employees for their work attitude of conscientious responsibility, and for their caring spirit toward the elderly.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-06-15, p. 10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. "Graduation Party" Actually Revenge Ploy
Co-Ed Held Down, Kicked, Drenched in Beer, Tormented
Classmates and Older Girl Involved
Reporter Li Lantong, Correspondent Gan Fangyuan
Graduation and the completion of the College Entrance Exam means that schoolmates will be going their separate ways, so many students use this time to have graduation parties to prolong their friendships. A-Qian (a pseudonym) received an invitation to a schoolmate's graduation party, too, but when she gleefully hurried over, a meticulously prepared trap awaited her. A group of boys and girls forced her to kneel down, kicked her, beat her and poured beer on her. They even humiliated her by forcing her to smoke and to blow up a condom like a balloon. Surprisingly, this gang consisted of students from her own class, plus one girl a year ahead of them.
"Graduation Party" Just a Trap
On the evening of the 1st A-Qian, who had just recently finished the College Entrance Exam, got an unexpected phone call from a schoolmate asking her to meet her fellow students that evening in front of East Gate [near downtown Liuzhou]. The caller said there would be a graduation party and everyone would go out for late night snacks.
A-Qian got to East Gate just after midnight on the 2nd, as arranged, but when she saw the seven people waiting for her on the stairway, she felt something was wrong. She knew most of them. They were her classmates, and a girl who had been a year ahead of them, and her former boyfriend. She was not on good terms with these people, though, and had had many disagreements with them.
Sure enough, the gang was waiting specifically for her, and it was no graduation party. One of the men ran forward when he saw her. He grabbed her blouse and forcibly dragged her to a secluded area beside the stairs.
Held Down, Kicked, Beaten and Humiliated Nearly Two Hours
One of her classmates, a girl called Double, came up to A-Qian in the secluded area and slapped her several times. She also took off her sandal and hit A-Qian in the face. After this beating, the gang forced A-Qian to her knees as they hooted at her. She didn't dare fight back because she was outnumbered.
Rather than calming down once she was on her knees, the gang became even more unrestrained: Double took a bottle of beer in her hand and poured it all over A-Qian; the girl who was a grade ahead of the others, Ms. Pan, was wearing high heels and kicked A-Qian repeatedly; one of the men in the gang forced her to smoke a cigarette; worse still, another man took out a condom and forced her to blow it up like a balloon. The beatings and indignities continued for nearly two hours.
Settling Grudges After Graduation
It was around 2:00 a.m. when help came along. A Good Samaritan heard crying, saw what was going on, and immediately went to the police for help. Officers on duty at the Central City Precinct rushed to the scene at once and brought both sides back to the precinct for further investigation.
The officers learned that Double and A-Qian had been at odds for a long time. A-Qian had reportedly been spreading rumors about Double. Even though they had graduated, Double could not stifle her resentment. A week before, she had found out that A-Qian was also saying bad things about the older girl, Ms. Pan, a freshman in college, so she phoned her to tell her about it.
Coincidentally, Ms. Pan and A-Qian had also had an ongoing dispute in high school. Her boyfriend had started seeing A-Qian midway [in their relationship]. Although the boyfriend later returned to her, she still felt ill will toward A-Qian.
Ms. Pan had started her vacation a few days before. She and Double called on their respective boyfriends and other friends to set up the ruse of asking A-Qian out to a party so they could get revenge.
Police Mediate Compensation Payment by Gang
The Police ascertained that 5 of the 7 people including Double were actively involved in the assault. All 5 have recently attained majority. Aside from Ms. Pan, who is already a college student, the rest will either enter college or become workers [depending on the results of the college entrance exams].
The Police indicated that their behavior in humiliating a schoolmate in such a manner over this kind of quarrel is sufficient to warrant administrative penalties. In the event the Police imposed such punishment, they would have a criminal record and their college careers would be over before they had even started.
A-Qian's mother was extremely angry when she found out how her daughter had been humiliated. The Police mediated between the parties with the idea of resolving the dispute. A-Qian's mother offered to accept 20,000 Yuan [≈$3,279] in compensation. That would have been a difficult burden for Double's side. After further mediation by the Police, A-Qian's mother made concessions in light of these children's future. In the end, the 5 people including Double agreed to pay a total of 10,000 Yuan compensation, and A-Qian will not pursue the matter.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-07-05, p. 15
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Honking Horn Provokes a Beating
Drunk Blocks Road, Savagely Teaches Passing Drivers a "Lesson"
Reporter Lu Bintong, Correspondent Deng Shiyin, Dispatch to the Evening News
Frequently, when pedestrians are walking with the traffic in the motor vehicle lane, drivers honk their horns with good intentions to give them a warning. But on the 17th around 9:00 p.m., a Mr. Lan encountered a very nonsensical thing while driving through North Second Alley off Broad Elegant Road. A man was walking too far toward the middle of the road in front of him. He tapped the horn to warn the man, but to his surprise, that honk provoked a "total war".
"I just wanted the guy blocking the road to let me by. I didn't expect to get a beating." Mr. Lan recalls that he was driving in the alley toward Broad Elegant Road. There was someone walking in the middle of the alley, so he tapped on his horn. As he passed by, the drunk first shouted obscenities at him, then reached through the car window and hit Mr. Lan upside the head. As he was hitting and cursing, the thick smell of alcohol made it obvious that he was drunk.
Mr. Lan felt that arguing with the man would be useless and decided to just drive away. Surprisingly the man wouldn't let it go and instead fought Mr. Lan for control of steering wheel.
In desperation Mr. Lan stepped on the gas, hoping to make the man realize he had no chance and back off. Who would have thought that the man would keep hanging on? Even though he was half running and half being dragged, he held on to the steering wheel as though it were a matter of life or death. Mr. Lan was forced to yell at passersby to call the police.
An officer from the Three Middle Road Police Affairs Station arrived right away and got the drunken man under control. Both the man's arm and Mr. Lan's arm had been injured, but to different degrees. As the Police were taking him to a hospital, the man kept shouting that he needed to find someone and didn't want the police to handle it; and that the police could only use force to take him to the precinct with jurisdiction over the area. [The officer's duty station is across town from the scene of the incident – Fannyi.] During this time the police learned that the man, a Mr. Mo, 42, from Liuzhou, had indeed drunk a not inconsiderable amount of alcohol before the incident.
Eventually Mr. Lan and Mr. Mo were both taken to hospital. The police will book Mr. Mo for drunken brawling.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-06-21, p. 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Wanted To Be Big Man, Loses Face Big Time
Not Enough Money to Pay Bill, Tries to Squeeze Credit
Manager Won't Agree, Calls Police
Reporter Xiao Jun, Intern Tu Junlan, Special Reporter Zhou Liuning
He invited guests to a birthday bash in a social club because he wanted to be The Man and show off for his friends. But when it came time to pay the bill, he didn't have enough money, so he tried to get the club to extend credit. The boss not only wouldn't go for it, but also called the cops. This time Mr. Qin really lost face in front of his friends.
On the evening on July 10th, Mr. Qin asked a group of friends to come to a social club on Cliff Village Road to celebrate his birthday. The group partied into the early morning hours of the 11th. When they'd eaten and drunk their fill, Mr. Qin and his friends left their private room and went up to the cashier. Mr. Qin said to the hostess: "Put this on a tab for me. I'll pay it another day!" The hostess knew he wasn't a regular customer and turned him down. "I'm sorry, we don't give credit here."
Having been turned down by the hostess, Mr. Qin told her to call the manager. At first the manager thought Mr. Qin looked a little familiar, then he remembered he had previously worked there for a few months as a security guard. "I'll give you a discount since you used to work here, but there's no way I can give you credit."
After the discount the bill was still over 1000 Yuan [≈$164]. Mr. Qin dug around in his pocket, but he only had 600 Yuan, so he turned to his friends to see who had a "sense of loyalty". Who would've thought? As soon as his friends saw Mr. Qin turn around, they knew he wanted to borrow money, so they took off, leaving Mr. Chin there alone.
"I don't have enough money. Put it on a tab for now." Mr. Chin wanted to force the manager to open a tab, but the manager wouldn't agree and instead called the police.
An officer from the Fish Peak branch of the Public Security Bureau quickly hurried to the scene. During the inquiry, Mr. Qin told of his "embarrassing predicament."
It seems that July 10th was Mr. Qin's birthday. In order to make a good showing in front of his friends, he wanted to invite them to a club for some conspicuous consumption, but he only had 600 Yuan to his name. He knew that an evening at a club would take at least a thousand eight hundred. Then he remembered the club where he used to work. He thought that, since he'd been a security guard, the manager would know him and would give him credit if he spent more than he had. So that evening he told his friends to go there for an evening's entertainment. He didn't figure that things wouldn't turn out the way he expected. It was downright embarrassing.
After mediation by the police, the manager agreed that Mr. Qin would pay 600 Yuan toward the bill, with a written IOU for the remainder to be paid within two days.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-07-13, p. 3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Proof of Health to Ride Train? New Scam!
Woman Taken In, Loses Cell Phone and Wallet
Evening News correspondent Peng Hong
Get a health certificate to ride a train? If you think that doesn't sound likely, you're right. It's a new scam con men are using to cheat travelers out of their money. Recently, a gullible woman believed the conmen's lie and lost everything she had with her.
On the afternoon of July 4, a Ms. Liu, 30, from Luzhai County, bought a ticket to Guangdong in the Liuzhou Railway Station. Just after the purchase, a middle-aged woman in a white shirt approached her and asked whether there was a large supermarket nearby where she could do some shopping. Coincidently Ms. Liu had been planning to buy some fruit near the station, so she offered to take the woman with her. As they came to the front door of the supermarket, a man wearing a plaid shirt walked by them from the side, talking on a cell phone. He said passengers have to apply for a health certificate before getting on the train and his ticket had been confiscated by the train station. The woman in the white shirt caught hold of the man and asked what that was all about. The man answered that someone had just died in the station, so now passengers have to get a health certificate before they can board a train. Then a young woman wearing glasses came over and volunteered that she had connections and could get them health certificates in a hurry. When the others heard that, they said they should let the girl lead the way. They left with her and took Ms. Liu with them.
When the group got to the rear gate of Yufeng Park, they were met by a stocky middle-aged man. He told Ms. Liu and the others that he would prepare the certificates for them because they were with someone he knew. It would be difficult with so many people, but he could take them one at a time. The middle-aged woman in the white shirt went with him first, and came back with the stocky man and a "health certificate" ten minutes later. They showed the certificate to Ms. Liu, dispelling her last traces of doubt. The stocky man told Ms. Liu that he did not take cash and she would have to use her bank card, and she gave him her bank card number and password without hesitation. Then Ms. Liu, who by then had completely lost all sense of caution, handed her suitcase and her carry-on bag to the woman in the white shirt to take care of while she went with the stocky man to get her certificate. After they'd walked a ways, Ms. Liu felt something was wrong and turned around. She discovered that her luggage, the woman in the white shirt and the other two people were nowhere to be seen, and the stocky man had also disappeared. Realizing she'd been conned, Ms. Liu hurried to call the police.
Officers from the Pegasus Responsibility Zone Criminal Investigation Brigade went to the scene and located Ms. Liu. When they took her to her bank to report the loss of her bank card, they found that 2,000 Yuan in cash [≈$328] had already been withdrawn from her account by the con artists. Ms. Liu said she had also had an additional 1,800 Yuan in cash, a mobile phone and other items in her bag.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-07-08 , p. 4
Chinese text available here.
5. Graduation Party" Actually Revenge Ploy
6. Honking Horn Provokes a Beating
7. " Big Man" Loses Face Big Time
8. Proof of Health to Ride Train? New Scam!
1. Cop Poses as Sexpot, "Hooks" Suspect
2. Cops in Accident, One Dead One Injured
3. Drunk "Soaks" Women, Gets Beaten
4. Everyone Ignores Fallen Senior
Chinese Stories in English
News Translations Published in July 2013