Police thwarted an attempt by four men, believed to be foreigners, to rob a house at Jalan 18/2A, USJ 21, Subang Jaya last night with their prompt arrival after being alerted by the house owner.

Subang Jaya district police chief ACP Yahaya Ramli said the break-in occurred about 9.25pm when the house owner was out.

However, he was alerted of the break-in when the house alarm, which was connected to his handphone, triggered.

“A police patrol car rushed to the scene, and when police arrived, they saw two foreigners in the house, while two others were waiting in a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) outside the house.

“The car left the scene after seeing the police, while the two men in the house fled through the back door,” he told reporters last night.

Yahaya said two men who fled in the MPV had not gone far when they were intercepted by another police patrol car, adding that the MPV did not stop, forcing the police to fired three warning shots.

He said the two suspects managed to flee and the MPV was found abandoned at a Muslim cemetery at USJ 22.

Following the incident, he said, an operation, code-named ‘Ops Tutup’ was launched to track down the suspects.

Yahya said that based on preliminary investigations, the MPV was rented from a tour agency and that the four suspects had been staying at a hotel in Bandar Sunway for four days.

He urged those with information on the robbery to contact the police.

Suspects believed to be Argentinians

Later in the day, police said they have identified the identity of four foreign suspects who attempted to commit robbery at a house in Jalan 18/2A, USJ 21, Subang Jaya last night.

Subang Jaya deputy police chief Supt Tan Ah Chua said the suspects, believed to be Argentinians in their 40s, have been residing in Malaysia using social visit passes.

“We inspected their home in Mentari Court after the incident but they had already fled,” he said when contacted by Bernama in Kuala Lumpur today.

Tan said police confiscated various items including a laptop computer and mobile phone believed to have been stolen.

In the 9.25pm incident last night, the men took off after noticing a police patrol car in the vicinity of the two-storey terrace home they had broken into.

Regarding the use of luxury cars such as a Toyota Estima in the robbery, Tan did not deny the possibility that the suspects rented such cars to deceive the public about their activities.

- Bernama