Last Week in Reality
News in bite-sized chunks. Illustrations by Ryan Chan.
Sat 17
Peeping Bruce An Australian man is arrested after he is caught peeping in the female toilets in a Tsing Yi shopping mall. A 53-year-old woman is sitting on the toilet when a shadow falls over her. She looks up and sees a man standing on the toilet in the next stall, looking at her. He appears to be drunk. She screams for help and her colleagues run in and block the toilet door to prevent him from leaving before the police arrive.
Sun 18
Breakup Heist A 33-year-old woman goes to the flat of her 44-year-old ex-husband, asking to get back together. The man refuses and then leaves, letting his ex-wife stay in the flat to calm down. When he returns at 2am his ex has left, but he discovers his girlfriend’s three-carat diamond ring, worth $800,000, and two handbags worth $260,000 are missing. The police are investigating.
Mon 19
Ol’ Yeller At 3am, a 35-year-old woman is arguing with her boyfriend on the phone as she walks along Kau To Shan Road in Shatin. Suddenly the woman screams and the connection is broken. Unable to reach her again, the boyfriend assumes that she has fallen downhill and calls the police, who search the area. The woman is found nearby in Ma Liu Tsuen, unharmed. Police dismiss the case as a misunderstanding.
Tue 20
Cash Smash At midnight, a 40-year-old man living in North Point drunkenly goes to an ATM to withdraw some cash. When his card gets stuck in the machine, he goes home to get a hammer before returning to the machine and trying to smash it open. Police arrive on the scene and the man flees, but he is soon arrested.
Wed 21
Bus Unfair At 11pm a man boards the 37A bus at Chi Fu terminus in Pok Fu Lam but refuses to pay the bus fare. When the driver tries to eject him from the bus, he punches the driver. The driver and the bus station manager subdue him until police arrive. The police categorize the case as “discovery of a crazy person.”
Thu 22
Sexploitation A man appears in court charged with “procurement by threats” of a sexual act. A woman allegedly received a call two years ago from a man claiming to be her ex, saying he missed her. Later she discovered he was not her ex, but claimed he would tell her who he was if she had cybersex with him. She agreed, but the man disappeared after their session. Later he contacted her once more, threatening to leak her nude photos unless she had cybersex with him again. Police found that the man was an ex-classmate of hers. In court, he kneels in front of reporters and begs them not to publish his photo, as it could affect his future and would be hard to explain to his girlfriend.
Fri 23
Bees! At 9am, two 70-year-old grandmothers are walking along hiking trails in Aberdeen. They are suddenly attacked by a large swarm of bees. They run away, but are stung as they try to escape. The bees stop chasing them after 20 meters. After receiving first aid, the pair is sent to hospital. They say that they did not touch a beehive and do not know why they were attacked.
