Man Used a Note & Knife to Rob Woodlands Pawnshop of $35K Worth of Cash & Jewellery

By
Shawn Ambrose
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In a gunless country like Singapore, residents feel safe, but the poor criminals find it difficult to carry out their illegal activities.

This is why many of them carry sharp objects, in case they need to rob a bank or quickly cut some onions for an emergency dinner outdoors.

But for some robbers, brandishing a sharp knife isn’t menacing enough. No, they have to bring another weapon, only this one is paper-thin and can be crushed.

Reader: You mean paper?

Bingo.

Man Used a Note & Knife to Rob Woodlands Pawnshop of $35K Worth of Cash & Jewellery

On Thursday (2 Sep), a man walked into a pawnshop. (No, this isn’t the beginning of a joke.)

He then showed a female employee who was working at the Woodlands Street 31 outlet a handwritten note, which stated in Chinese:

“Do not shout, I only need money. I have a knife on me, I do not wish to hurt people.”

It seems that the paper wasn’t enough, because the man ended up using the knife he had on him to intimidate another staff member into handing him around S$24,400 in cash.

He’s also believed to have grabbed a gold chain and a gold bracelet – worth S$10,747 – before fleeing the scene.

He didn’t have much time to enjoy his newfound wealth, however.

Caught Within 16 Hours

After being alerted to the incident at around 5.50pm that day, officers managed to identify the armed robber through the use of forensics technology and CCTV footage.

The man had tried his best to confuse the authorities by taking a bus, taxi, and motorcycle after fleeing the scene, but it didn’t work.

Within 16 hours of the armed robbery, the man was arrested for his suspected involvement in the heist; he was identified as a 46-year-old Malaysian work permit holder.

In total, he had stolen over S$35,000 worth of cash and jewellery.

Gambled Away Some Stolen Cash

In his note, the man said he “only needed money”, and thus most of us would assume he would use the stolen money to pay some hospital bills, or buy food for his new, hungry puppy.

Instead, he gambled away some of the stolen cash immediately after the robbery, and used some to pay off debts.

This is why officers only managed to recover S$4,454 of the stolen cash. They are still working to recoup the remaining amount.

The 46-year-old man is expected to be charged with armed robbery today (4 Sep), and could be jailed between five and 20 years if found guilty.

Investigations are ongoing.

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]