A man surnamed Chen scratched the dog's skin with his fingernails beforehand, then waited for the opportunity to find the dog walker. He then deliberately kicked the dog, falsely claiming that he had been "bitten," and demanded several hundred yuan in compensation. Ms. Zou, who was walking her dog without a leash, was deceived by Chen's "acting skills."
On May 28, a reporter from Cover News learned from the Yanjiang Branch of the Ziyang Public Security Bureau in Sichuan Province that, after investigation, Chen's behavior was suspected of being a staged accident scam. He has been given an administrative detention of 11 days and a fine of 400 yuan.
Incident
A man claims he was bitten by a dog and demands 500 yuan in compensation.
Recently, Ms. Zou from Yanjiang District was walking her two dogs along Maliu Street in the city when she suddenly heard a man behind her claim that he had been "bitten" by a dog. Turning around, she saw one of the dogs barking at the man.
"I saw the man pinching his fingers, and I immediately panicked, thinking that my dog had really bitten him," Ms. Zou said. She regretted not leashing her dog and quickly apologized, even taking out a tissue from her bag and handing it to the man to press on the "wound."
At this point, the man said he had been bitten by a dog and needed to get a rabies vaccine. Faced with this request, Ms. Zou, who was still in a daze, readily agreed and offered to go to the hospital immediately, promising to cover the expenses.
Upon hearing this, the man immediately changed his story, claiming that he was from out of town and in a hurry to get home, and that he would be happy to pay 500 yuan for the vaccine.
“500 yuan is about right for a rabies vaccine, and I didn’t think about anything else at the time.” Until then, Ms. Zou didn’t realize it was a scam and readily paid 500 yuan in compensation. Afterwards, she told her family and friends about the incident, and the more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. “I didn’t see how it bit me, and besides, that dog was a small breed, it couldn’t have jumped up and bit my hand.”
After thinking it over, Ms. Zou returned to the scene of the incident and reviewed the surveillance videos of nearby businesses. She discovered that the man was suspected of deliberately staging the accident, so she immediately called the police.
The suspect deliberately kicked the dog to fake being bitten.
After receiving the report, the police officers from Sanxianci Police Station quickly rushed to the scene. After investigation and surveillance, the identity of the suspect, Chen, was quickly revealed, and his behavior was suspected of being a staged accident.
Surveillance video shows that at the time of the incident, Chen pretended to make a phone call on the roadside. When he noticed that Ms. Zou had her back to him, he walked straight to a small dog, kicked the dog, and shouted, "Whose dog bit me?"
Given the "skilled" modus operandi, the police determined that this was likely not Chen's first offense. Further investigation revealed that he also had a prior conviction for fraud in Chongqing.
Subsequently, the police quickly located Chen's whereabouts using technical means. At the Sanxianci Police Station, Chen readily confessed to the staged accident scam. He explained that, lacking a stable income, he wanted to make some money, and that he had learned these tricks online. He never expected to be caught on his first attempt in Ziyang.
Ultimately, Chen returned the 500 yuan to Ms. Zou. He was also given an administrative detention of 11 days and a fine of 400 yuan by the police.
In addition, the police also criticized and educated Ms. Zou, reminding her that "going out is a public area, and dogs should be leashed when walking."
