Police in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested four thieves after they chopped off the right arm of a 28-year-old woman in an attempt to steal her SH scooter The robbery occurred at 8:30 pm Saturday and the victim was Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thuy, a resident of Thanh My Loi, District 2. The four robbers seized were Ho Duy Truc and Nguyen Hoang Phuong – both 19 and natives of Ninh Thuan Province, Tran Van Luong, 24, and Huynh Thanh Son, 30 – both of Binh Chanh District. At 8:30 pm on November 24, while Thuy was driving across the Phu My Bridge, two men on a motorbike pulled up next to her and one of them suddenly slashed her right elbow with a large knife. Thuy shouted, “Robbery! Robbery!” as the thief hacked at her twice more, almost chopping off the lower part of the arm. Thuy fell to the ground in terrible pain and tried to shout for help. She saw one of the robbers try to steal her bike, but he couldn’t start the engine. Then, two more thieves rushed up on another motorbike and snatched her bag from her shoulder. The bag contained VND5 million (US$240) and some other items. Dang Van No, 42, of District 1, then passed by on his motorbike and saw Thuy writhing in a pool of blood. No slowed down but one of the robbers said, “What do you want?” and rushed at him with a knife in his hand. No could not help and drove away, while the robbers fled towards District 7. No then returned to the scene and, with the help of another passer-by, took Thuy to hospital. Thuy was eventually transferred from the Gia Dinh Hospital to the Trauma and Orthopedics Hospital. Meanwhile, a police patrol team in Nha Be District found signs the robbers and chased after them through many streets. The team later found the thieves in a hotel in Binh Hung Commune, Binh Chanh District, seized them, and handed them over to District 2 Police. The robbers confessed that they had attacked Thuy in order to rob her scooter, adding that they had committed many other crimes in the past.