Locked up: China thief who learned tinfoil trick to pick locks in prison uses new ‘skill’ to steal US$42,000, gets 10 more years
- Thief caught on camera using home-made ‘key’ to open door in seconds
- Mainland social media reacts with astonishment, amusement
A thief in China mastered the “skill” of picking locks with tinfoil during a nine-year prison sentence, then committed thefts totaling more than 300,000 yuan (US$42,000) after his release.
His robbery spree resulted in him being sentenced to a further 10 years behind bars.
His technique was finally exposed following two robberies he committed in November 2022 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, eastern China in which nearly half a kilo of gold and more than 50,000 yuan (US$7,000) in cash were stolen.
Police investigations revealed no physical evidence of a break-in, but surveillance footage captured a man wearing a hat and mask and using his phone for lighting, as he approached a property early one morning.
The man could clearly be seen carefully examining a door lock, then inserting a T-shaped key, deftly twisting it and opening the door in less than a minute.