Eight young men aged between 16 and 20 committed over 70 cable robberies at Daxing district, and were detained by police, the Beijing Evening News reported Monday.

The eight suspects were stealing the cables and immediately got into a getaway minivan when they saw police, throwing bricks and fire extinguishers at them on December 21, 2012.

They then ditched the van and fled. Police arrested them in January. They confessed that they also stole 10 minivans since last year.