Two snatch thieves who had snatched about S$25,000 in cash from a 45 year-old victim yesterday found out that public spiritedness was well and alive in Singapore when their criminal act was thwarted by two public-spirited members of the public in the form of a 41 year-old Chinese National and a 20 year-old Singaporean.

On 11 Jan 2010 at about 11 am, the victim, a 45 year-old Indian man was crossing the road at the traffic light junction in front of Peace Centre when an unknown man suddenly appeared from behind and snatched the victim's bag which he was carrying under his left arm. The victim had earlier collected from his boss the shop's takings of about S$25,000/- which he had then placed in the bag as he was on his way to the bank to deposit the money. The victim noticed that the fleeing suspect was closely followed by another man and immediately shouted for help as he ran after them.

Two passers-by, 41 year-old Cui Yue Jin and 20 year-old Nicholas Wong, heard the victim’s cries for help and gave chase immediately. In the midst of the chase, one of the suspects dropped the bag of money. The two suspects then climbed over a fence into a church along Prinsep Street. Without hesitation, Mr Wong followed suit while Mr Cui went back to retrieve the bag of money. Mr Wong managed to detain one of the suspects inside the compound of the church. Though the other suspect managed to escape, cash of about S$25,000/- was successfully recovered.

The suspect who had been detained by Mr Wong, a 28 year-old Indian man, will be charged in Court on 13 Jan 2010 for an offence of Snatch Theft with common intention under Section 356 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. The offence carries a punishment with imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not more than 7 years and shall also be liable to caning. Police investigations are on-going to trace and arrest the other suspect.

Commander of Tanglin Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police Koh Yak Leng, commended the two members of public for their bravery and public spiritedness which foiled the theft and resulted in the arrest of the suspect.