Suspects arrested after two women held hostage for 6 hours in home invasion, robbery
Two suspects were arrested, one last night, and one this morning, following a police investigation into a case where a mother and daughter were held hostage and robbed in their home in New Taipei City Wednesday evening.
At around 5:40pm Wednesday, January 2, a 50-year-old woman named Huang returned to her residence in Shulin District, and was ambushed by two men as she entered the apartment. The men tied Huang up, wrapped a quilt around her head, and held her hostage in the bedroom while they ransacked the house for cash and valuables.
At around 7:00pm, Lee’s 23-year-old daughter returned home and was also tied up and held hostage in a bathroom.
During their ordeal, the burglars communicated to the women by typing on cellphones, and did not speak at all.
At around 8:30pm, one of the men left. The other suspect remained until around 11:30pm. Before leaving, the man undressed the mother and took nude photos, threatening her not to go to the police or he would upload the pictures to the Internet.
In the end, the suspects only made away with NT$6,500 in cash, and did not take bank and credit cards, despite the passwords being offered to them.
Police investigators found that the two men, wearing motorcycle helmets and raincoats, had entered the apartment at around 4:30pm, using a key. From the outset police suspected that the suspects were acquaintances of the family.
Yesterday evening police arrested a 35-year-old Vietnamese national named Pham. After an interrogation, Pham, a migrant laborer, confessed to committing the crime with his 53-year-old Taiwanese employer, Mr Ding.
Police arrested Ding at around 10:00am. Ding confessed to masterminding the crime due to financial problems at his factory.
Ding had known the Lee family for many years and had made a copy of the house keys when he borrowed a vehicle from a member of the family about one month ago. Ding had in the past borrowed money from the Huang family, but had recently been refused.
Related Video
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.