Man Arrested For Armed Robbery Within 5 Hours

The Police have arrested a 38-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of armed robbery.

On 12 April 2021 at about 3.55pm, the Police were alerted to a case of armed robbery at a unit along Jurong Gateway Road. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had allegedly robbed the unit by showing the staff in the unit a written note which said, “This is a robbery, don’t shout. I got gun in my pocket. Put all the money in the bag”. The staff handed over cash amounting to more than $24,000 to the man and he then fled. While the man was allegedly carrying a firearm during the commission of the offence, he did not reveal the firearm to the staff. The man is believed to have acted alone.

Through extensive investigations and aided by images from Police cameras and shop CCTVs, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Clementi Police Division, with the help from AETOS staff, quickly established the identity of the man, who was an on-duty AETOS auxiliary police officer (APO), and arrested him within five hours of the reported crime. The man had reported to work at AETOS Headquarters and drawn his firearm prior to the commencement of his deployment. He then changed out of his uniform and left the AETOS Headquarters with his firearm without authorisation, and allegedly committed the offence before reporting back to AETOS Headquarters to change into his uniform and take the company’s transport van to his deployment location. The Police worked with AETOS to arrest the man.

Investigations also revealed that the man had purportedly deposited part of the stolen cash into the bank account of a 34-year-old woman, who is his female friend, and also transferred the stolen cash to a few bank accounts to repay his debts to unlicensed moneylenders. The woman had also allegedly facilitated the transfer of the stolen cash and she was arrested for dishonestly receiving stolen property under Section 411 of the Penal Code. The Police have arrested eight other persons, aged between 16 and 48, for the same offence in connection to the case. A portion of the stolen cash amounting to about $17,500 has since been recovered. Efforts are underway to recover the remaining stolen cash. Police investigations are ongoing.

The man will be charged in court on 14 April 2021 with being in unlawful possession of arms or ammunition in the commission of a scheduled offence under Section 3(3) of the Arms Offences Act. The offence is punishable with life imprisonment and not fewer than six strokes of the cane. The woman will be charged in court on the same day with dishonestly receiving stolen property. The offence is punishable with imprisonment for up to five years, or a fine, or both.

Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police How Kwang Hwee said, “The man involved in the armed robbery abused the firearm entrusted to him to carry out his duties. Police officers worked swiftly to secure his arrest, aided by images from Police cameras and shop CCTVs. We managed to do so without harm being caused to the public, given the risk that the robber was allegedly carrying a firearm. The Police will spare no effort to ensure that such criminals who endanger the public’s safety are dealt with firmly and severely in accordance with the law.”