Teenagers Fearlessly Enter Unmanned Store Carrying Bricks, Smash Safe 'Kwang Kwang'

Attempted Theft and Escape in Early Hours of the 3rd
Police Tracking Based on CCTV Footage

The images of two teenagers attempting and failing to steal valuables by breaking into an unmanned store were captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV). Recently, thefts targeting unmanned stores have increased significantly.

According to an SBS report on the 4th, at around 5:30 a.m. the previous day, two males estimated to be teenagers entered an unmanned store in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Wearing masks, they looked at the kiosk machine, then went outside, picked up a brick, and came back in.

In the early morning of the 3rd, one of the two individuals smashing a kiosk with a brick at an unmanned store in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=SBS YouTube]

Then, one of the two began repeatedly striking the kiosk’s safe lock with the brick. When the first man accidentally hit his own hand and complained of pain, the other man took the brick and continued hitting the kiosk.

However, the lock did not break off, and eventually the two men abandoned the brick and left the store. The incident was recorded on CCTV. Although no theft occurred, it was reported that the 3.5 million won kiosk terminal was partially damaged. The police, who received the report, are tracking the two men based on the CCTV footage.

As unmanned stores increase, attempts to steal valuables from inside the stores and flee are also rising. In particular, many of these attempts have been carried out by teenagers.

On July 11, a teenager broke into an unmanned ice cream discount store in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, opened the kiosk checkout counter with scissors, and fled with the cash inside. In the same month in Gwangju, three youths were caught by police while stealing cash from an unmanned store using a metal lever.

Last year, the total number of theft cases at unmanned stores nationwide was recorded at 6,018. The police began separately categorizing and counting theft cases at unmanned stores starting in March 2021, and from March to December last year, the number of thefts surged by 71% compared to the same period the previous year.

It is estimated that the actual number of petty theft crimes is even higher, as offenders who are juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 14) are not processed as criminal cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.