Police probing reports of damage to Yishun flats from ball bearings

The police are investigating complaints from residents in Yishun that their flats have been shot at with metal ball bearings in the past few months, causing damage to windows and furniture.

This has been going on since at least last June, said a resident of Block 347A Yishun Avenue 11, who gave her name only as Mrs Lou. She said her flat was targeted with 3cm ball bearings.

She is aware of nine neighbours who had their glass doors and windows damaged, the 40-year-old human resource assistant told The Straits Times yesterday.

Chinese-language evening daily Shin Min Daily News yesterday quoted another resident, named only as Ms Chung, 32, saying her windows had been hit four times by metal ball bearings over the past six months.

Mr Louis Ng, an MP for Nee Soon GRC, told ST yesterday that police investigations are ongoing for the cases reported.

Mrs Lou, who lives in a ninth-floor unit with her husband and two sons, aged 10 and 15, said she did not think much of it when her neighbour told her last December about a few such incidents.

But to her horror, when she checked for damage around her flat, she found two large dents in the glass sliding doors of her master bedroom balcony.

"This is worrying, because what if someone was standing on the balcony? I often spend time there watering my plants," she said.

The nearest buildings facing her bedroom balcony are Housing Board flats about 150m away, separated by a park connector.

She said she was worried about her children getting hit, noting that the shots "did quite a bit of damage to the door".

She said she does not plan to replace the damaged doors until the culprit is caught, adding that the cost is estimated to be $900.

Mrs Lou said she and several other residents made police reports.

In response to queries from ST, the police confirmed that reports have been lodged and investigations are ongoing.

A resident from the neighbouring Block 347B told ST that her windows had also been damaged by ball bearings, but declined to comment further.

Other residents whom ST approached said they had been hearing about such incidents around the estate since last year and were worried that the same would happen to them.

Mr Ng urged anyone with information to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or to submit information online at www. police.gov.sg/iwitness

A spokesman for Nee Soon Town Council said it is assisting the police with their investigations, and its conservancy cleaning staff are helping to keep a lookout for suspicious behaviour in the estate.

In December 2020, a man was sentenced to 18 weeks' jail and fined $2,000 for shooting metal ball bearings at nearby residential blocks from his Jurong West home using metal airguns.

In September 2020, a man was sentenced to three weeks' jail for using a wooden catapult to shoot ball bearings from his Woodlands flat.