Smashed car screens: Man nabbed

Feb 13, 2008

Smashed car screens: Man nabbed
By Diana Othman

A MAN suspected of being behind a series of thefts over the Chinese New Year period has been arrested.

The 30-year-old is thought to have smashed the windscreens of 22 vehicles on Feb 8, making off with the CashCards stored in some of them.

ITEMS SEIZED: Among the objects police found was an umbrella fitted with a spear head for getting through car windscreens so that the suspect could fish out CashCards from the in-vehicle units.

-- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

The man was arrested at a multi-storey carpark in Block 104A Henderson Crescent on Monday, after police officers who had been tasked with investigating similar thefts from other vehicles in the area spotted him loitering suspiciously and questioned him.

Police later seized various items, including an umbrella fitted with a sharp spear head, gloves, and an ATM card from his home.

The items are believed to have been used to carry out the offences.

A 42-year-old woman was also picked up in follow-up investigations, and she is now helping police in the probe.

According to police, the suspect used heavy objects such as a brick to crack a vehicle's windscreen.

He then created an opening near the in-vehicle unit with the specially-fitted umbrella so he could fish out the CashCards.

In addition to the Chinese New Year cases, the man is suspected to be involved in more than 40 incidents of theft from vehicles islandwide in the last two months.