A 37-year-old man in Kaohsiung caused panic after allegedly going on a violent rampage armed with two sickles, damaging a shop, threatening members of the public and injuring a lorry driver before eventually being arrested by police three hours later.
According to reports, the suspect, surnamed Chen, claimed he was in a bad mood and decided to ride his bicycle around to “clear his mind”.
However, during the ride, he allegedly entered a hardware store and took two sickles without paying before suddenly smashing the shop’s cash register and knocking over an entire pot of tea eggs.
After leaving the hardware store, Chen reportedly cycled to a nearby bubble tea outlet where he encountered a lorry driver purchasing drinks.
Witnesses said the suspect began shouting aggressively at the driver before waving the sickles dangerously during the confrontation.
At one point, Chen allegedly swung one of the sickles toward the driver’s neck.
The driver instinctively raised his hand to block the attack and suffered a cut injury to the webbing between his thumb and index finger.
Witnesses at the scene said the suspect appeared emotionally unstable, continuously yelling and brandishing the curved blades in public while frightening nearby customers and passers-by.
One witness said they saw the man holding two sickle-like weapons while arguing loudly with another man, although the exact conversation could not be heard due to the distance.
The terrifying incident happened during peak evening hours when roads and shops were crowded with people heading home from work, causing panic among the public.
Investigations revealed the unemployed suspect had cycled from Gangshan to Alian, covering a round trip distance of nearly 30 kilometres.
Police said the incident began at around 5.15pm on May 26 when the suspect entered the hardware store, grabbed the sickles and vandalised the premises before later confronting the lorry driver at the beverage shop.
After injuring the victim, Chen reportedly cycled back toward Gangshan before police tracked him down and arrested him along Liuqiao West Road about three hours later.
Authorities later discovered the suspect had multiple previous criminal records involving theft, fraud, public endangerment and drug-related offences.
Alian police substation deputy chief You Jingzhi said the suspect was seen riding a bicycle while waving sickles and shouting along the road, leading officers to suspect he may have been mentally unstable.
Fortunately, the injured lorry driver only suffered minor wounds to his hand and did not sustain life-threatening injuries.
The shocking case has since sparked concern online, with many questioning how a man carrying dangerous weapons was able to roam public streets during busy hours before being stopped by police.
