One policeman was injured and a young man killed in Tan Binh District in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, after the latter struggled desperately with a ruthless thief who snatched his laptop from him.
Local residents tried their best to overpower the thief after he snatched the laptop from the young man and stabbed him to death and also injured the policeman who chased him.
According to witnesses, at 10.30am on Monday, 22-year-old Hoang Ngoc Tri was driving his girlfriend on a motorbike on Hoang Hoa Tham Street in Tan Binh District when 28-year-old Cao Xuan Lap drove his motorbike behind him, snatched the baggage from Tri, and sped away.
Determined to retrieve his laptop, Tri gave chase and rammed his motorbike into Lap’s, and both bikes fell to the ground. They both wrestled and Lap pulled out a knife and stabbed Tri many times in the chest and belly before running off towards Hoang Hoa Tham Market.
Police Captain Vo Sy Hoang, who was traveling on the street at that time, ran after Lap who also stabbed him and escaped to Dong Xoai Street.
At that moment, Cat Van Thuan, 31, who was driving his motorbike on the street, crashed into a fleeing Lap.
Thuan and some local men then beat up Lap unconscious and disarmed him.
Tri was taken to My Duc Hospital in Tan Binh District where he died soon after from severe injuries to his heart.
Meanwhile, Captain Hoang suffered two serious stab wounds in his face and arm, but has recovered and is being treated at Cho Ray Hospital.
Tri had just graduated from the University of Culture, and the laptop was a valuable asset for him, since it had been bought with money saved by him and his family.
Meanwhile, Lap was the eldest child in his family, who had relocated from the central province of Quang Ngai to live in HCMC 20 years ago. Lap stopped schooling when he finished ninth grade and then worked as an electronic repairman, but his job was not stable and he and his family remained very poor.
