Three cash registers at a Choa Chu Kang food court were pried open, and stallholders lost over $2,500 in total.
The thief is believed to have tailed early shift workers into the food court in the early hours and even went as far as crawling through a food pass-through opening to access the kitchens and break open locked cabinets to steal money.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the theft took place on June 23 at a hawker centre located along Choa Chu Kang Street 51. Liu Zhongxian (name transliterated), 31, an employee at one of the affected curry noodle stalls, said his colleague discovered the mess when arriving early in the morning to prepare the stall. The area was in disarray, and the front counter had been ransacked.
Crawled Through Kitchen Window to Steal
After reviewing CCTV footage, they saw a man sneaking into the back kitchen area of the stall, prying open a locked cabinet, and stealing more than $1,000 in cash from the register.
Liu said the thief likely entered the kitchen by crawling through the food pass-through opening that connects the front counter to the back kitchen. The opening is quite high, so the man would have had to climb onto the counter before squeezing through it.
Liu explained that they usually store the cash register in a locked cabinet in the kitchen after closing, and the main entrance of the food court is also locked. That’s why he suspects the thief followed early shift workers into the premises before committing the crime.
“The vegetarian stall usually opens earliest, around 4am. I suspect he followed them in and then moved around to steal from other stalls,” Liu said.
He added that a mala hotpot stall in the same food court was also targeted, and the cash register of a tze char stall was pried open as well, although fortunately, no money was taken from that stall.
Another stall at Gangsa Road also lost $800
A chicken rice stall at Gangsa Road also fell victim to theft when a thief sneaked in during the early hours and stole $800 in cash.
The incident took place at a chicken rice stall located in a coffee shop at Block 163A Gangsa Road. Staff member Ah Jie (34 years old) told Shin Min Daily News that he arrived to open the stall on Thursday morning (July 17) and found that the $800 kept in the cash register had gone missing. After checking the CCTV footage, he realised the money had been stolen.
“The coffee shop operates 24 hours. It was around 3am when the man (the suspect) took advantage of the quiet and sneaked into the stall to open the cash register and steal the money,” he said.
The CCTV footage shown to the reporter revealed a man wearing a cap and face mask entering the stall. He quickly squatted down, reached up from below the counter to open the cash register, grabbed several stacks of cash, and left in a hurry.
Ah Jie added that after this incident, they have locked the cash register to prevent such thefts from happening again.
Same Man Behind Both Thefts
Police confirmed that the same suspect was involved in both theft cases. Officers from Jurong Police Division investigated and reviewed CCTV footage to track him down. He was arrested on July 23.
The man, 39-year-old Lai Guohua (name transliterated), was charged in court the next day. If found guilty of housebreaking and theft, he could face up to 10 years in jail and a fine.
