Sharp-eyed man spots MRT thief carrying dried meat bags

SINGAPORE: Who would’ve thought that bags of dry meat could lead a man to capture a thief who stole his wallet in a rare MRT robbery?

A man reported to Shin Min Daily News that before he went shopping, he put his mobile phone and a cross-body bag near a socket in the MRT station to charge.

When he returned, he saw staff members holding his umbrella, and the staff explained to him that a ‘kind person’ had taken his belongings to the control room. He retrieved it without checking. He took the subway immediately, only to discover that his wallet, which he left inside his cross-body bag, was gone. By then, he had arrived at Clarke Quay station.

The man then returned to the Chinatown MRT station, where he left his bag, and notified the staff and police about the incident. The police reviewed the CCTV footage and allegedly stated that the ‘kind person’ was the one who took the wallet.

Unfortunately, the surveillance camera did not directly capture the moment the person stole the wallet, so the authorities needed to do further investigations. 

The man said, “Although it was wrong of me to leave my belongings at the subway station, Singapore has always been very safe, and the subway has so many CCTV cameras. I never thought that someone would actually steal things.” 

Later on, the man received a notification from the bank that there were recent transactions on his bank card that were made in a store in Chinatown.

While reviewing the CCTV footage, the man caught a clear glimpse of the woman’s face — the thief who had stolen his wallet — and immediately rushed to the dried meat shop.

Woman busted on the elevator

Luck was on the man’s side because as soon as he got on the escalator, he saw the woman carrying two bags of dried meat going down.

“I recognised the woman at a glance. I called the police officer as I ran, then grabbed the woman’s hands and waited for the police to arrive at the subway station,” the man declared. 

The man said that his wallet contained $60 cash, bank cards, an ID card, a driver’s license, and a house key. However, after the woman kept the bank cards and cash, she already lost the other items in the wallet. 

The woman was arrested while she kept apologising to the man. She stated that she was unwell, needed surgery, and had heart problems. When the Civil Defence Force arrived at the scene and examined the woman, she refused to be taken to the hospital.

Other similar news

In related news about stealing, there was a report where a couple worked together to steal from a beauty salon, and their crime resulted in nearly S$14,000 being taken from the store.

The couple pleaded guilty to a combined burglary charge. They were sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment.

Read more about the news article here.