A thief surnamed Wang who was afraid of being beaten by local residents had to seek police help when he was detained by security guards in Jinlin Garden, a housing estate in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province on Thursday night.

Wang, 26, broke into an apartment but was found by the apartment owner, who happened to return home ahead of time. He fled, but was detained by security guards at the gate of the estate.

After learning that a thief had been detained, many residents of the estate immediately rushed to the security guards' kiosk, holding wooden rods in hand and wanting to beat Wang.

Wang had to use his mobile phone to call police, who arrived on the scene and brought him to a nearby police substation for questioning.

Nanguo Metropolis New