15 Beijing Highschoolers Busted After Slew of Sanlitun Knifepoint Robberies

Fifteen Beijing teenagers are under detention for robbing Sanlitun strollers at knifepoint and then blowing their earnings at nearby bars and restaurants, Chinese media reports.

The kids, ranging in age from 13 to 18, were caught on January 9 after several robberies were reported near Gongti Beilu in Sanlitun.

The gang would bump into pedestrians as a pretext to getting them to stop, and then rob them while wielding electric batons, baseball bats, and knives, police reports indicate.

The gang, made up of students from high schools in Chaoyang, Shunyi, and Changping, has apparently been at it a while and frequently changed outfits and hairstyles to avoid detection.

One victim, surnamed Jin, reported that he was bumped into by two teenagers while walking in the Sanlitun area over the weekend. One teen claimed to be hurt and demanded money to pay for a visit to the hospital, but when the victim tried to brush them off as typical street scammers, they quickly pulled out knives, and others from the gang popped out to surround him.

He was then dragged inside a nearby housing compound and forced to kneel on the ground, before the robbers snatched RMB 800 in cash from his wallet. Another teen grabbed his phone and managed to transfer RMB 300 from the victim's WeChat account. Not satisfied, the thieves then dragged the man to a nearby ATM and forced him to withdraw another RMB 1,000 and stole his phone.

Another victim told police the gang was enraged to find that their victim had no cash and slashed at him with a knife, cutting his coat and causing a minor injury.

Police from the Sanlitun District Police Station have several of the incidents on tape from area security cameras and the perpetrators appear to be the same group of teens.

Each member of the gang had different roles: one responsible for keeping lookout, another selecting victims, another conducting the robbery itself.

Police said that while the teens were young, their knowledge of avoiding detection and identification was quite sophisticated, always wearing hats and wearing pollution masks, and never wearing the same outfit. The police noticed that one of the perpetrators wore a scarf to several of the robberies, providing the break in the case the police needed.

The gang operated mostly between midnight and 3am, and tended to target young people, police said.

One suspect, surnamed Tian, is in his first year in high school, and told police he spends his days in school and his nights robbing people in Sanlitun.

Tian said that they could rob five to six victims per night, and if the victim didn't cooperate, that's when they would deliver a beating.

Another of the subjects, surnamed Cui, said every time he goes out he'll get RMB 500 to RMB 600 as his share, but some of the more powerful gang members will take up to RMB 800. Most of the time they immediately blow the money partying in the area's restaurants and bars, Cui said.