Man, 21, suspected of stealing jewellery worth $12k from Queen Street pawnshop nabbed
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The man had asked to try on a few pieces of jewellery including a gold chain and a ring. He then walked out with the unpaid jewellery.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
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SINGAPORE - A 21-year-old man who is suspected of stealing jewellery worth more than $12,000 from a pawnshop in Queen Street has been arrested.
The police in a statement on Sunday said they were alerted to a case of theft on Nov 4 at about 1.50pm.
The statement said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had asked to try on a few pieces of jewellery including a ring and a gold chain.”
The man then walked out of the pawnshop with the unpaid jewellery, and staff from the pawnshop gave chase but eventually, they lost sight of him.
Officers from the Central Police Division managed to track him down and arrested him about eight hours later.
“The stolen gold chain and gold ring were recovered and seized as case exhibits,” the police said.
The man will be charged in court on Monday with theft. If found guilty, he faces a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.
The statement said the police will not tolerate brazen acts of crime and will spare no effort to apprehend such offenders. Retailers are also advised to remain vigilant against shop thieves by making sure there is a good line of sight for displays and advisory posters and signs put up to discourage shop theft.
Retailers, the police statement added, should also display expensive merchandise in locked showcases or at prominent locations like near cashier counters, install closed-circuit television with a recording system at the entrance or exit of the store to capture the facial features of patrons and deploy adequate security personnel to patrol the premises in luminous vests to deter thieves.
