Man jailed for stealing parts from 34 bikes

Exhaust pipes and brake callipers worth $12,500 were sold in Batam

With tools in his backpack, 44-year-old Too Ah Keong would roam carparks looking for targets - motorcycles with in-demand parts which he could dismantle and sell in Batam.

In a year-long crime spree, the unemployed Too stripped 34 bikes of their exhaust pipes or brake callipers, stealing a total of $12,500 worth of parts.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to two years and 11 months in jail after pleading guilty to theft and the possession of stolen items.

"You went on a rampant spree of stealing motorcycle parts for over a year," District Judge Mathew Joseph told Too.

"You caused serious inconvenience to the owners of these motorcycles... and it is in the public interest to impose a deterrent sentence."

Too's series of crimes began in June last year when he stole a Nissin brake calliper valued at $200 from a motorcycle in a Jurong carpark.

He would also dismantle Yoshimura exhaust pipes as there was demand for them from his buyer in Batam.

Too would get $100 each for the pipes, whose original value ranged from $322 to $900.

He told police that he sold the items on the Indonesian island to avoid detection as the exhaust pipes and callipers carried serial numbers that could be traced.

After checking that the coast was clear, it would take him about 10 minutes to dismantle the parts he wanted, before riding off on his own bike.

But on the afternoon of June 26 this year, a police officer saw him tampering with a motorcycle which was parked along Bayfront Avenue before riding away.

The cop made a note of the licence plate on Too's bike, and when he noticed that the exhaust pipe of the other motorcycle was missing, officers laid an ambush at the void deck of the suspect's flat in Woodlands.

When Too returned at 3pm, the stolen exhaust pipe was found in his backpack.

Other motorcycle parts were found in his flat and he admitted stealing them.

Too could have been jailed up to seven years for theft and fined.

khush@sph.com.sg

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