'Polite' lift robber nabbed

[Medusa]

Jun 30, 2010
'Polite' lift robber nabbed

A SERIAL lift robber, who preyed on elderly women in various estates, would thank or apologise to the victims after robbing them. The 47-year-old man who is believed to be responsible for several cases of armed robberies in various housing estates such as Bedok North, Bedok Reservoir, Eunos, Tampines, Rivervale and Hougang, was arrested by police on Tuesday.

Police said the suspect would follow the victims into the lifts before robbing them of their cash and gold chains at knife point. 'One notable modus operandi of the suspect was that he would explain to the victim that he was doing this out of desperation and would either thank or apologise to the victim after robbing her,' said a police statement on Wednesday.

Following up on the reports, officers from Bedok Police Division conducted extensive inquiries and also staked out at various locations based on crime pattern analysis. On Tuesday at about 2 pm, officers who were conducting a stake out spoted a suspect fitting the description provided by the victims at a bus-stop located along Bedok North Street 1. They nabbed him when he alighted from a bus at Tampines central. Police also recovered a knife which was believed to have been used to commit the robberies.