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Conflict Incident Report

Beirut police arrest Mar Mikhael purse snatcher

Date of incident: 
December 28, 2016
Death toll: 
0persons
Number of Injured: 
0persons
Actors/Parties Involved: 
Lebanese Civilians
Internal Security Forces (ISF)

Lebanese police arrested a man accused of stealing purses from bars in Beirut, a security statement said Wednesday.

The Internal Security Forces said they arrested a Lebanese man identified by his initials as N. J., 31 on charges of theft.

A 29-year-old woman had informed police that someone stole her purse at a bar in the Mar Mikhael district of Beirut, the statement said.

A number of complaints of theft have been lodged at the same local police station.

Following intensive investigations, the suspect was tracked and arrested upon his return from Syria.

The statement said the suspect had previously been convicted on theft charges.

He withdrew $800 from the victim’s ATM card, the statement added.

He also confessed to stealing another woman’s purse, it said.

This security incident was mapped according to the closest possible location.
Primary category: 
Arrest/Detention
Classification of conflict (primary): 
Individual acts of violence
Violent incidents which do not have a specific or a known political agenda but are caused by the general proliferation of weapons, of trained and untrained soldiers or militants, by the general inefficiency of the Justice system, and past-traditions and histories of violence within society.