Man in His 40s Arrested and Referred for Prosecution After Stealing Donation Boxes from Temples in Gimhae at Night

The image of a donation box thief captured on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) inside a temple's main hall. Video provided by Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.

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A man in his 40s who entered a temple in the middle of the night and stole money from a donation box has been arrested and referred for prosecution.

On June 12, the Gimhae Jungbu Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province announced that they had arrested a man in his 40s, identified as A, on charges of nighttime breaking and entering with theft, and had referred him to the prosecution.

According to the police, from January 2022 to June of last year, A is suspected of stealing approximately 8 million won in cash from donation boxes at five temples in the Gimhae area on 44 separate occasions.

He committed the crimes late at night by taking advantage of the fact that the doors to the temple main halls, where the donation boxes were located, were not locked.

It was determined that he had no fixed occupation or residence and used all of the stolen money for living expenses.

The police analyzed closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage around the crime scenes and arrested A at the scene when he returned to commit another theft after staking out the temples.

Subsequent investigations revealed that he had committed additional related offenses.

The police have strengthened nighttime patrols around temples and recommended that temple authorities install high-definition CCTV cameras, secure donation boxes, and implement double locks and alarm systems.

In addition, to strictly respond to major crimes affecting public safety, such as robbery and theft, the police have been conducting an intensive crackdown on such offenses from April through this month.

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