http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,204959,00.html?
CCTV cameras catch burglars in action. Now...
Their faces are on the Internet
June 14, 2009
NOT SO SMART: The two suspects, seen here in the CCTV footage. The man in white was staring at the CCTV camera with his visor up. --PICTURE: STOMP
THE bumbling duo thought they had it all worked out.
First, they wore motorbike helmets, thinking it would hide their faces as they broke into a provision shop in Woodlands in the early hours of Thursday morning.
But one of them left his helmet visor up.
Then, they thought they were being smart when they switched off the closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras in the shop.
But they forgot to take the hard drive, which had already captured their faces.
It had recorded them breaking into the shop with a crowbar, together with a clear shot of one burglar's face.
Now the shop owner's son has put the footage of the burglary on YouTube, and screenshots of the duo on The Straits Times interactive website Stomp.
When contacted by The New Paper, the shop owner's son, Mr James Xie, 27, a systems engineer, said the break-in was discovered on Thursday at 5.45am by his mother, Madam Wong.
That was 30 minutes after the burglars left the shop at Blk 178, Woodlands St 13.
Mr Xie said his mother noticed that the locking mechanism of the metal shutters had been tampered with. She immediately called the police.
A police spokesman confirmed that $35 in cash and three bottles of isotonic drink had been reported missing.
When Mr Xie reviewed the shop's CCTV footage later, he saw two men, who looked to be in their 20s, breaking into the shop.
There were four CCTV cameras in the shop, but only two managed to capture footage of the suspects.
Loitering
It showed the two men loitering near the lift landing outside the shop at about 4.50am.
One of the men, in a black T-shirt, used a crowbar to force open the metal shutters at the front of the shop.
He then entered the shop and rummaged through some of the items.
The other man, wearing a white T-shirt, appeared to serve as a lookout.
At about 5am, they left the store but returned within a minute to continue their looting.
During this time, the man in white lifted the visor of his helmet, in full view of one of the CCTV cameras positioned under the metal shutters.
The 10-second shot was enough for Mr Xie to extract a clear image of his face from the footage, which he posted on Stomp's website.
Said Mr Xie: 'He didn't see the camera until he turned and looked at it. Soon after that, the CCTV was switched off.'
Mr Xie said his mother told him that a newspaper deliveryman saw the burglars closing the metal shutters of the shop, and tried to hold on to them to prevent them from escaping.
But one of them allegedly pulled out a knife, so he had no choice but to let them go.
This is the first time the provision shop has been burgled since Madam Wong started operating there in February.
Although not much was stolen from the shop, Mr Xie said that he wanted to raise awareness about the increasing number of thefts in the neighbourhood.
He claimed that another provision shop in the area had been broken into recently.
Police are investigating. Anyone with information can call the police hotline on 1800-2550000.
- Joanna Hor Peixin, newsroom intern
CCTV cameras catch burglars in action. Now...
Their faces are on the Internet
June 14, 2009
NOT SO SMART: The two suspects, seen here in the CCTV footage. The man in white was staring at the CCTV camera with his visor up. --PICTURE: STOMP
THE bumbling duo thought they had it all worked out.
First, they wore motorbike helmets, thinking it would hide their faces as they broke into a provision shop in Woodlands in the early hours of Thursday morning.
But one of them left his helmet visor up.
Then, they thought they were being smart when they switched off the closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras in the shop.
But they forgot to take the hard drive, which had already captured their faces.
It had recorded them breaking into the shop with a crowbar, together with a clear shot of one burglar's face.
Now the shop owner's son has put the footage of the burglary on YouTube, and screenshots of the duo on The Straits Times interactive website Stomp.
When contacted by The New Paper, the shop owner's son, Mr James Xie, 27, a systems engineer, said the break-in was discovered on Thursday at 5.45am by his mother, Madam Wong.
That was 30 minutes after the burglars left the shop at Blk 178, Woodlands St 13.
Mr Xie said his mother noticed that the locking mechanism of the metal shutters had been tampered with. She immediately called the police.
A police spokesman confirmed that $35 in cash and three bottles of isotonic drink had been reported missing.
When Mr Xie reviewed the shop's CCTV footage later, he saw two men, who looked to be in their 20s, breaking into the shop.
There were four CCTV cameras in the shop, but only two managed to capture footage of the suspects.
Loitering
It showed the two men loitering near the lift landing outside the shop at about 4.50am.
One of the men, in a black T-shirt, used a crowbar to force open the metal shutters at the front of the shop.
He then entered the shop and rummaged through some of the items.
The other man, wearing a white T-shirt, appeared to serve as a lookout.
At about 5am, they left the store but returned within a minute to continue their looting.
During this time, the man in white lifted the visor of his helmet, in full view of one of the CCTV cameras positioned under the metal shutters.
The 10-second shot was enough for Mr Xie to extract a clear image of his face from the footage, which he posted on Stomp's website.
Said Mr Xie: 'He didn't see the camera until he turned and looked at it. Soon after that, the CCTV was switched off.'
Mr Xie said his mother told him that a newspaper deliveryman saw the burglars closing the metal shutters of the shop, and tried to hold on to them to prevent them from escaping.
But one of them allegedly pulled out a knife, so he had no choice but to let them go.
This is the first time the provision shop has been burgled since Madam Wong started operating there in February.
Although not much was stolen from the shop, Mr Xie said that he wanted to raise awareness about the increasing number of thefts in the neighbourhood.
He claimed that another provision shop in the area had been broken into recently.
Police are investigating. Anyone with information can call the police hotline on 1800-2550000.
- Joanna Hor Peixin, newsroom intern
