Nov 22, 2010
POLICE TIP OFF
Grassroots leaders foil bid
They tip off police about meeting a father had set up to persuade gang to let his teenage son quit
By Jalelah Abu Baker & Chua Hian Hou
Retired police officer and grassroots leader Lionel de Souza, 67, made the tip off call. -- ST FILE PHOTO: JOYCE FANG
A TEENAGER and his father turned up at a Hougang coffee shop on Saturday night for a talk with a group of men to persuade them to let the teen leave the gang. What could have been an ugly confrontation was averted when grassroots leaders got wind of the meeting and tipped off the police. Uniformed officers turned up at the coffee shop at Block 118, Hougang Avenue 1, shortly before 10pm, and found no signs of any talks. But following investigations there, they arrested two men, in their early 40s, on the spot. One who armed himself with a metal pole is expected to be taken to court today. Police are still investigating the second man.
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Read the full story in Monday's edition of the Straits Times.
