by Nick
Happy Birthday to the Goose Thief
October 31, 2008 in Uncategorized by Nick
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Police in Taiwan served a lonely man cake and sang happy birthday after arresting him for stealing a goose to celebrate on his own, an officer in charge said on Friday.
Police in the southern township of Neipu treated the 49-year-old suspect, surnamed Lee, on Thursday after they caught him making off with the bird from a betel nut plantation, said Hsiao Chi-liang, second in command at the local police station.
“It was his birthday and he stole it to celebrate, so we bought him a cake,” Hsiao said. “He was very surprised.”
Officers took pity on Lee because he was poor, single and living in a shabby home, Hsiao said.
A Taiwan newspaper showed the dishevelled criminal suspect in the police station shovelling his single-serving of cake from a plastic take-out box.
Nevertheless, police have sent Lee’s case to the prosecutor’s office for possible trial.
