The Police have arrested a 46-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of armed robbery.
On 2 September 2021 at about 5.50pm, the Police were alerted to a case of armed robbery at a pawnshop located along Woodlands Street 31. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had allegedly committed robbery by showing a female staff working in the unit a handwritten note with Chinese characters stating: “Do not shout, I only need money. I have a knife on me, I do not wish to hurt people”. He then allegedly confronted a male staff of the unit with a knife. The male staff complied with the man’s instructions and handed over to him cash amounting to about $24,400. The man subsequently fled the scene with the money and two pieces of jewellery valued at $10,747.
Through extensive investigations, with the aid of forensics technology and CCTV footage, officers from the Woodlands Police Division, Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department, Police Operations and Command Centre, and Public Transport Security Command established the identity of the man and arrested him within 16 hours of the incident at a residential unit along Sembawang Road. A knife, one handwritten note, two pieces of jewellery, a shirt, a pants and a bag were seized as case exhibits. Investigations also revealed that the man was believed to have gambled away a part of the stolen cash immediately after committing the offence, and used a portion of the stolen cash to repay debts to his friends. Cash amounting to $4,454 was recovered, and efforts are underway to recover the remainder of the stolen cash. The man is believed to have acted alone. No one was hurt during the incident.
The man will be charged in court on 4 September 2021 with armed robbery under Section 392, read with Section 397, of the Penal Code. If convicted, he may be liable for an imprisonment term of not less than two years and not more than 10 years, and not less than 12 strokes of the cane.
Commander of Woodlands Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Ang Eng Seng expressed appreciation to the SPF officers for their perseverance and devotion to their duty in solving the case and said, “Despite the suspect’s attempt to evade detection by escaping via various modes of transport such as bus, taxi and motorcycle, the Police pursued all available leads to identify and arrest him within 16 hours of the reported crime. The forensics examination and analysis at the crime scene, coupled with CCTV footage, were instrumental in the quick resolution of the case. This case exemplifies the relentless commitment from the Singapore Police Force in bringing criminals to justice.”
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
04 September 2021 @ 5:55 PM