In a robbery case reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto, a young, good-looking man wearing a fake Rolex robbed a watch store of two genuine Rolexes, worth $150,000, all in downtown broad daylight.
First Customer Of The Day Turned Robber
The shop, HJ Luxury, located at Far East Plaza, was supposed to be entertaining its first customer of the day on Wednesday (12 June).
At around noon, a young man, in his early 20s, strode into the shop asking to view a range of Rolex watches.
The shopkeeper, Ms Liew, presented some watches to him on a small tray.
Instead of purchasing his desired pieces, the young man, however, snatched two of them and ran off while Miss Liew was keeping away some of the pieces.
A Faint Hint of Fishiness
In expressing her doubts, Ms Liew, who was in the shop at the time with her older sister, said: “I thought something was fishy because the watches he was asking for were not suited for his age”.
Ms Liew immediately gave chase after the young man and was soon joined by a bevvy of shopkeepers from neighbouring stores.
They, however, lost sight of him after he had fled via a nearby staircase leading to the main road.
Ms Liew described the robber as tall, good-looking and in his early 20s, and while he had managed to escape, CCTV cameras in the shop managed to capture his image.
Besides leaving the shopkeeper horde in his wake, the alleged thief also left his fingerprints on multiple glass surfaces in the shop.
He also left behind his complimentary fake Rolex as if to say nahhh in your face, and an empty bag which he had bought into the shop.
According to Ms Liew, all these items were taken by the police as evidence.
Extreme Caution And Fear
The incident has since shaken the small shop-keeping community at the mall to its core.
Ms Liew shared that she and the other shopkeepers have since discussed installing a glass door at the store entrance to prevent people from Grand Theft Auto-ing away with their goods.
She told Straits Times (ST): We are all operating small shops here, we can’t afford to hire a security guard for every shop”.
Over at Lynn Jewellery and Watches, a neighbouring store, owner Linda Lim said her son “was so spooked by the incident that he immediately bought CCTV cameras for her to install the next day” according to ST.
Better Security Please
Mr Wong, owner of another watch shop just two stores down from the stricken HJ Luxury, said: “There seems to be just one security guard covering the whole building. They should make their rounds more regularly.”
Like Ms Liew, they both called for better security in the mall.
At this point in time, shop owners are using their well-honed gut instinct to nip potential criminals in their butt bud.
Mr Goh, an owner of another watch shop, told ST he would try to be more careful in detecting any hint of wrongdoing in his shop.
The police have released an image of the alleged thief and are appealing for more information.
Anyone with information regarding the case can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit information online at http://www.police.gov.sg/iwitness
In the meantime folks, keep your loved ones close, but your real Rolexes (or G-Shock) even closer.
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