5 Youths Apologised to Owners After They Stole 1 Side of Multiple Footwears for Fun

Pranks could be harmless if done within an acceptable boundary, but most of the time, they aren’t. And when that happens, it transitions from harmless fun…

…to being a full-blown public nuisance.

Indeed, one can’t help but empathise with the following owner, whose family has had to suffer because of a series of “pranks”.

5 Youths Apologised to Owners After They Stole 1 Side of Multiple Footwears for Fun

Over the last few months, Fami, 47, had to contend with a seemingly disturbing phenomenon:

Shoes will be mysteriously missing from his doorstep, and will either turn up at the elevator downstairs or the garbage chute.

This was particularly worrying, considering how his children would lose their school shoes, and would have to stay home or even wear slippers to school.

While the perpetrators were hard to find, Fami had his own suspicions. He speculated that several teenagers, who would wander around downstairs in the middle of the night, were to blame.

But he had no proof.

Determined to uncover the truth, he decided to install a CCTV outside his home. And on 31 July 2021…

He finally got what he wanted.

That night, five teenagers could be seen dashing across the corridor of the HDB estate.

When they passed by a particular unit, three of them leaned over to take a shoe, before fleeing the scene.

Everything was caught on CCTV. You can view the video down here/

Infuriated, Fami called the police, and uploaded the video onto the net.

It swiftly went viral, causing heated discussion amongst Netizens and even attracting the attention of Tampines GRC councillor Baey Yam Keng, who commented that such behaviour was “not funny”.

Yet, Fami never expected the next development in the story:

Seeing all five teenagers at his doorstep on 1 August 2021.

Apology

At this point, one can expect either two things:

A heated fight, or an apology.

Thankfully, it was the latter.

Hauled by two of the teenagers’ brothers, the five offending individuals stood before Fami in one line, and begged for his forgiveness.

They also promised not to commit the crime again, and pleaded with him to remove the video from the Internet.

The two elder brothers added that the teenagers were bored and had pranked on a whim.

Despite Fami’s inclination to relent, he had already phoned the police by then.

As such, disciplinary action may have to be handed out.

Fami also made sure to remind them that such actions were wrong, and advised them not to do it again.

Similar Instances

A few years back, a GrabFood deliveryman made news headlines when he went for a pair of shoes outside an HDB flat.

He placed the stolen pair inside the Grab food insulator bag (yes, the one used to put out food), before making a break for it.

Or in other words, GrabShoes.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV.

The very next day, the man was arrested, after the police combed through police cameras and CCTVs.

He was also suspended by Grab.

Featured Image: Facebook (Baey Yam Keng)