An elderly Vietnamese housekeeper has been arrested for using a knife to rob the residence of her former employer in Ho Chi Minh City, police affirmed on Thursday.

Police officers in District 7 said that they had detained Nguyen Thi Deo, 61, from the southern province of An Giang, to investigate the robbery charge.

On the night of March 8, Deo, dressed in a head cover, face mask, and gloves, carried a knife and other tools to break into the house of 42-year-old H.T.T.T. on Le Van Luong Street in Tan Quy Ward, according to initial information.

After successfully entering the residence, the suspect used a hammer in an attempt to open the family’s safe, located on the second floor of the house.

After failing to open the safe, Deo hid herself on the floor and waited until midnight.

Around 3:00 am on March 9, the housekeeper entered T.’s bedroom, forcing them to open the safe and threatening the house owner and her daughter with a knife and hammer.

As the safe could not be opened due to the damage done from Deo’s previous attempts, the woman forced T. to give her a necklace, a pair of earrings, two rings, a bracelet, and VND6 million (US$269.2) in cash, which were kept in T.’s closet.

Deo then used metal wire to tie up the victims and covered their mouths with tape and handkerchiefs before locking them in a bathroom and attempting to escape the residence through the balcony.

After trying to slide herself down the water pipe from the second floor she quickly got exhausted and climbed back into the house to rest.

At 5:00 am the same day, T.’s current housekeeper arrived at the house and discovered the detained victims in the bathroom screaming for help.

Deo tried to resist with her knife before finally being compromised and arrested by local police officers.

The suspect claimed at the police station that she previously worked as the cleaning lady for T. and decided to rob her house because of her familiarity with the interior.

She added that she carried out the crime based on a TV series she used to watch.

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