Man robs gold shop to go to jail

Tran Ngoc Son, 28, rushed into the Kim Huyen gold shop on Nguyen Trai Street of Di An Town on Tuesday night, smashed the glass shelves, took the gold jewelryand threw them into the street.

Later, he sat down right in front of the shop and waited for the police.

Di An police on Thursday charged him with “property appropriation.”

Son admitted to robbing the gold shop and explained that he suffers from depression and once wanted to kill himself.

When passing the shop on Tuesday night, he thought of going to jail so he committed the crime.

Police are still clarifying his testimony and have yet to make any conclusion.

The shop’s owner said he had thrown 18 rings worth VND57 million ($2,400) to the street and only eight have been collected.

On July 31, Ngo Van Quoc, an officer working at a prison in the central Thua Thien-Hue Province, raided two gold shops in the province with a rifle, took the gold items, threw them into the street, and shouted: “Gold for the poor,” according to eyewitnesses.

He was arrested several hours after the stunt and is under investigation.