16-year-old with hammer robbed unmanned stores to pay off gambling debts

A teenager who stole a motorcycle and used it to rob unmanned stores over three days to pay off gambling debts has been arrested.

Ilsan Seobu Police Station said Monday it had apprehended a 16-year-old suspect, identified only as A, and was investigating him on charges of aggravated theft, attempted aggravated theft and unlicensed driving under the Road Traffic Act.

A is accused of entering seven unmanned stores in the Goyang area of Gyeonggi Province over three days in early July and smashing kiosks with tools to steal cash on 10 separate occasions, making off with about 870,000 won ($615).

The cost of repairing the damaged kiosks was estimated at about 3.8 million won.

Police launched the investigation after receiving a 112 emergency call reporting that a cash box at an unmanned store had been broken into, deploying detectives to search the surrounding area.

Additional theft reports from other unmanned stores came in during the search. Police confirmed that A had carried out the series of crimes across seven stores within roughly three hours.

Officers spotted a motorcycle rider matching A's description along his suspected escape route and gave chase, eventually apprehending him.

When police blocked his path with a van, A abandoned the motorcycle and fled on foot before being caught hiding in a residential neighborhood.

A told investigators that he committed the crimes to repay debts he had run up through online gambling, police said.

The motorcycle used in the crimes was found to be stolen, and A was confirmed to have ridden it without a license.

Police plan to refer A to prosecutors without seeking detention after completing their investigation into the full circumstances of the crimes.