A thief broke into the house of a Saudi citizen in Arar, stole jewelry worth SR33,000 and some official papers. He also tampered with the contents of the home and destroyed the furniture. Investigations are under way to identify the culprit, police sources said on Saturday. Meanwhile, jewelry worth more than SR400,000 was stolen from a home in Jeddah while the family was away vacationing in an Arab country. Jewels were allegedly stolen by the family's Indonesian driver who, on the day of the crime, was let into the home by the maid with whom he had started an illicit affair months ago. He attacked the maid, gagged and tied her up, took by force her gold bracelet and cell phone and went straight to where the family was keeping its valuables, stealing all the jewels and cash he could set his hands on, police sources said. The maid succeeded in untying herself and called one of the family's relatives to inform him about the theft. In addition to the jewels, the thief allegedly took SR70,000 in cash, a lap top, and a number of cell phones worth SR7,000. The thief was tracked down by the police and was found hiding at a friend's house. Upon raiding the house, the thief's friend fled and the culprit himself attempted to hide in a closet. A small quantity of gold was found in his possession. It was later found out that he had hidden the remaining quantity of the gold at the home of a second friend who works at a jewelry shop in central Jeddah. The thief indicated that he deliberately made approaches to the family's maid to earn her trust and find out where the jewels and cash cache were hidden. – Okaz __
