A security guard expressed his surprise to police, stating, "I always saw Ma coming in at night and genuinely thought he was working overtime!" The individual in question, Ma, was formerly a maintenance technician in the workshop of an automobile manufacturing plant in Taizhou, Zhejiang. Having joined the factory in 2018, he was considered a seasoned employee. However, no one anticipated that this "veteran worker" would embark on a path of no return following a "chance discovery."

One day, while in the welding workshop, Ma noticed a batch of leftover copper electrode caps among the stacked materials. Gazing at these seemingly insignificant yet "valuable" copper pieces, greed took hold of him.

That very night, he pretended to come to the factory for overtime work. After swiping his card to enter, he sneaked into the workshop. Handful by handful... he stuffed the copper electrode caps into his pockets, carried them out of the facility, and hid them in the trunk of his car parked outside. Initially, he felt some apprehension, but after several days passed without anyone noticing the missing copper parts, he repeated his "overtime" act.

Engaging in this piecemeal theft over ten times, he accumulated approximately 100 jin (around 50 kilograms) before selling the stolen goods.

Thereafter, he became uncontrollable, frequently coming to "work overtime." The situation continued until late April this year, when staff noticed a significant reduction in the quantity of copper electrode caps and promptly installed temporary surveillance equipment in the workshop.

In the early hours of May 10th, around 3 a.m., public surveillance footage captured an employee entering the workshop and leaving quickly afterwards. Staff immediately recognized the individual as Ma. Upon reviewing clock-in records and main gate surveillance videos, they observed that Ma's outer pockets appeared flat upon entry but were noticeably bulging when he exited.

Consequently, the factory owner decisively reported the incident to the community police officer. Following the leads, police officers apprehended Ma at his rented residence on the morning of May 14th.

According to Ma's confession, from March 2025 to May 2026, he stole copper parts at least ten times per month on average, totaling over 150 instances. Currently, Ma has been placed under criminal detention according to the law, and the case is under further investigation.