A parking lot guard at downtown Yuyuan Garden Metro station was caught red-handed by police stealing the battery of an e-bike under his watch on December 5, Huangpu District police said on Thursday.

Police of Yuyuan Garden Police Station spotted the theft from their office when they happened to be monitoring a surveillance camera facing the scene.

They immediately informed their colleagues patrolling the area and the suspect, a man surnamed Zhang, was caught right away.

Zhanghas allegedly confessed and said he stole the battery because he lost a lot of money through gambling.

He will be detained for five days, police said.