Serial supermarket thief arrested
AsiaOne
Wednesday, Jun 12, 2013
SINGAPORE - Police have arrested a 26-year-old woman who is suspected to have committed a series of thefts in a shopping centre in Ang Mo Kio.
In a statement to the media, the police said since June 1, 2013, they have received several reports of bags being stolen from trolleys while shoppers were browsing in a supermarket located within the mall.
The victims did not notice that their bags were gone until they were making payment at the cashier counter.
Together with security officers of the shopping centre and the supermarket, police officers conducted investigations to establish the identity of the suspect.
On June 10, officers spotted the suspect entering the shopping centre and caught her red-handed while she was trying to steal a shopper's bag which was left unattended on a trolley.
She was immediately placed under arrest. Preliminary investigations revealed that she had stolen from shoppers at the supermarket on at least 5 other occasions, and also committed another theft at a hawker centre in Bukit Merah, where she used to work, on another 2 occasions.
The suspect will be charged in court on June 13 for theft in dwelling, which carries a maximum jail term of 7 years' imprisonment with the possibility of a fine.