Robber in New Zealand Mugs Chinese Student, Steals $11,500 of Valuables From Her Home Right After

September 29, 2017

A Chinese woman living in New Zealand was a recent victim of a criminal who, after mugging her on the street, decided to also ransack her apartment later in the same night.

The victim, an international student identified only as Lin, said she “never thought this would happen” to her after living in Auckland for four years, Stuff reports.

According to Lin, she was with her three friends on their way to a restaurant in Ponsonby when someone suddenly came from behind her and snatched her handbag. The incident reportedly took place at about 8:00 p.m. on September 22.

Her stolen bag contained her wallet, passport, cellphone, a receipt with her home address on it, and both her car and house keys. Lin narrated that her friends tried to chase the mugger but he was able to flee via a getaway car.

After reporting the mugging to the local police station, she returned home to find that her apartment had been unlocked and her room was trashed.

“The guy found the receipt with my address on it and went to my home,” Lin was quoted as saying.

The thief stole about 16,000 New Zealand dollars ($11,458) worth of her belongings, including bags, shoes, and jewelry. Lin revealed that some of her roommate’s valuables were stolen too. The incident left Lin so frightened that she went to stay at her friend’s place.

Based on the apartment’s security camera footage, the man came back at around 2:30 a.m. to return her passport and her car keys.

Choosing never to return to her old apartment out of fear, Lin had found a new place to stay.

“I can’t sleep because I’m so afraid. I want to protect myself because I’m an international student, I don’t know who can help me,” she pointed out. “When I came four years ago, I never thought this could happen.”

According to an Auckland central police station spokesperson, the case is still being investigated.

“No arrests have been made at this stage and no other similar incidents appear to have been reported to police in the last month,” the representative was quoted as saying.

Lin revealed that these days, as much she tried to get back to her normal life, she no longer feels safe in New Zealand.

A survey from 2016 revealed that 65% of Chinese living in New Zealand felt the same way, following reports of a spate of robbery attacks targeting Asian students in the country last year.

Just last year, in March 2016, two young Chinese women ended up with bruises and facial cuts after being robbed in a public park. Another woman, who was walking on a street in in Newmarket had her handbag stolen by teenagers.

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