A MAN was detained by police for allegedly smashing the windows of over 20 cars in Longhua District within three days and stealing things from these cars, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported over the weekend.

    The suspect, surnamed Chen, stole things from over 20 cars in Longhua by smashing their windows between Feb. 9 and 11. He was detained by a Longhua police task force at the Guangzhou Railway Station on March 7.

    During an investigation, Long-hua police found that Chen had also been detained by police in Liaoning Province for stealing in 2012. It’s not the first time that he had smashed cars in Longhua. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2015 for stealing things after smashing car windows in Minzhi Subdistrict in Longhua.

    Chen confessed that he had done the same thing in Beijing and other cities in Liaoning and Jiangxi provinces. He had also done so in Guangzhou on Feb. 21 and was responsible for smashing over 40 cars in Longgang District on March 10, 2015.

    According to the report, thieves usually smash cars between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. and at midnight. Their main targets are private cars parked in informal parking lots near restaurants, shopping malls and parks. They smash car windows and steal the car owner’s personal belongings, such as handbags, phones or cameras.

    Car owners are advised to bring their personal belongings with them and park their cars in parking lots with security guards or places where many pedestrians walk by. They could also consider installing burglar alarms or buying theft and robbery insurance for their cars, according to the report. (Zhang Yang)