MADINAH, 11 February 2006 — A man accused of being Madinah’s notorious serial burglar, who was arrested by security officers on Tuesday, will be transferred to court after investigation, said Maj. Gen. Ahmad Al-Radadi, director of police.
“We are still questioning the man and we’ll soon know the motives that prompted him to commit these crimes,” Al-Radadi said about a series of burglaries allegedly carried out by the man.
Witnesses interviewed said they saw the suspect breaking into houses in the morning hours when male family members were away at work.
Al-Radadi said the alleged criminal, a drug addict, broke into houses to steal cash and valuables. He did not cause any harm to people.
“We arrested him last Tuesday after closely watching his movements,” the police chief said.
The suspect is a 27-year-old Saudi, married with two children. Security agents said they seized drugs from the man at the time of his arrest.
“It’s unfortunate that he is a Saudi. He had been fired from work because of drug addiction,” Al-Radadi said.
Al-Radadi said even though the suspect had committed five burglaries, newspapers had exaggerated the case. The reports had sent shockwaves across the Kingdom.
A number of Madinah people expressed happiness over the arrest of the burglar. “Now we can sleep in peace, without fear,” one of them said.
Some sociologists said unemployment and drug addiction were the main reasons for such crimes. Speaking to Al-Madinah Arabic daily, they favored rehabilitation of the criminal rather than punishing him.
Police had earlier arrested three persons in connection with the burglaries that had taken place in various parts of Madinah in December and January. Police then said one of the arrested suspects had the same features as the criminal whose description had been published in newspapers.
