A security guard expressed surprise when questioned by police, saying, "I often saw Mr. Ma coming at night and always thought he was really working overtime!" Mr. Ma, a maintenance technician at an automotive manufacturing plant in Taizhou, Zhejiang, had been with the company since 2018 and was considered a senior employee. However, no one expected that this "experienced worker" would embark on an irreversible path after a "chance discovery."

One day, while handling materials in the welding workshop, Mr. Ma noticed a batch of leftover copper electrode caps. Gazing at these seemingly insignificant but valuable copper components, he felt a surge of greed. That night, pretending to work overtime, he swiped his card to enter the factory, sneaked into the workshop, and began stuffing copper electrode caps into his pockets. He then carried them out of the facility and hid them in the trunk of his car parked outside the factory gate.

Initially, Mr. Ma felt some apprehension, but after several days with no one noticing the missing copper components, he repeated his "overtime" routine. Over more than ten such small-scale thefts, he accumulated around 100 kilograms of copper before selling it. From then on, he became increasingly brazen, frequently visiting the factory under the guise of overtime work.

By late April this year, staff noticed a significant reduction in the quantity of copper electrode caps and installed temporary surveillance equipment in the workshop. At 3 a.m. on May 10, security footage captured an employee entering the workshop and quickly leaving. Staff immediately recognized the person as Mr. Ma. Upon reviewing access records and gate surveillance, they observed that his jacket pockets appeared flat when he entered but were noticeably bulging when he exited.

The employer promptly reported the incident to the police. Following the leads, officers arrested Mr. Ma at his rented residence on the morning of May 14. According to his confession, from March 2025 to May 2026, he stole copper components at least ten times per month, totaling over 150 instances. Mr. Ma has now been criminally detained in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.