In a well-coordinated operation this morning, officers from Bedok Police Division arrested three men, aged 17 - 21 years, who were believed to have robbed three convenience stores in the past week, effectively putting a stop to their crime spree.

The first robbery took place on 19 July 2010 at about 4.30am at a convenience store located at Blk 776 Pasir Ris Street 71. Two men wearing ski masks and armed with knives had barged into the convenience store and pointed the knives at the cashier while a third man acted as a look-out. The suspects managed to flee with cash of about $500, an assortment of mobile top up cards amounting to $1409/- and cigarettes amounting to $250/-.

The second robbery, which occurred on 21 July 2010 at about 4.10am, was committed in a similar fashion. Two masked men had entered another convenience store at Blk 351 Tampines Street 33 and robbed the cashier at knifepoint. The suspects made away with cash of $600/-, an assortment of mobile top-up cards amounting to $240/- and cigarettes amounting to $430/-.

In the last case, on 22 July 2010 at about 6.15am, two masked men had entered a convenience store at Blk 626 Pasir Ris Drive 3, barged behind the counter and brandished their knives at the cashier while a third man acted as a look-out. The suspects took away cash amounting to about $391/-, an assortment of mobile top-up cards amounting to $315/-, cigarettes amounting to $683/- as well as condoms.

Police spared no efforts to track down the perpetrators as more than 50 officers from Bedok Police Division were mobilised for a series of operations and ambushes. Police's efforts finally paid off on 23 July 2010, when the identity of one of the suspects was ascertained through follow-up investigations.

No time was wasted and with the important lead, the first suspect, a 17 year-old youth was arrested at Pasir Ris Street 71 on the same day at about 8.45am . Following this, the other two suspects aged 17 and 20 years old were subsequently tracked down and arrested at a hotel located at Joo Chiat Road at about 1.30pm that day. Among other things, Police recovered the following items from the hotel room:-

a A knife,
b Two ski masks;
c Two pairs of gloves;
d Two jackets with hood;
e Assortment of coins;
f Assortment of cigarettes;
g Assortment of condoms; and
h Assortment of mobile phone top-up cards.

All three suspects will be charged in Court on 24 July 2010 for Armed Robbery with Common Intention. The offence is punishable with imprisonment of not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years; and caning of not less than 12 strokes.

Commander of Bedok Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Teo Chun Ching commended his officers for their excellent co-ordination and good investigative skills which led to the arrest of the suspects. He added, "Such violent crimes will not be tolerated. The Police will spare no efforts to hunt down the perpetrators and ensure that they are dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.”