Pregnant woman falls chasing thief
By Amanda Yong
The New Paper
Thursday, Dec 22, 2011
SEVERAL minutes after their conversation, he heard shouts of "robbery".
Sales executive Terry Hung, 26, saw two women, one of them pregnant, chasing the man he had just spoken to.
The pregnant woman fell and the other woman stopped to help her.
Mr Hung ran after the man, caught up with him and they got into a scuffle.
But the man managed to flee after punching Mr Hung in the chest.
He made off with a gold ring worth about $800 from a goldsmith's shop at Block 371, Bukit Batok Street 31, on Sunday at around 2.50pm.
Mr Hung told The New Paper over the phone last night that he was just metres away from the goldsmith's shop at the time.
He promotes credit cards for a bank as part of his job and moves to a different location every day. It was his first time at Block 371.
A tan-complexioned man, who looked to be in his 20s, approached him to ask what he was selling.
"I told him I was promoting a credit card and asked if he wanted to sign up. He said he was busy and would come back later to sign up," said Mr Hung.
He gave the man his contact number though he didn't think the man was serious about getting the card.
Less than five minutes later, he heard women shouting "robbery" in Mandarin and saw two women hot on the heels of that man.
"It was drizzling, and he had run out to the open area near the carpark. The floor was slippery and the pregnant lady fell while running after him," he said.
Mr Hung told a passer-by to call the police and sprinted after the man. During the chase, Mr Hung shouted "robbery" in English and Mandarin, but no one came to his aid.
"I ran after him for about four to five blocks, in one big circle, until he slowed down to cross the road," he said.
He caught up with the man once they had both crossed the road.
"I kicked him on the backside and he fell on the ground," Mr Hung said. "I wanted to pin him down, but he turned around and punched me in the chest."
That blow did not injure Mr Hung, but it left him breathless for several seconds - enough time for the man to make a hasty escape.
The shop employee who served the man when he entered the shop said he had "behaved normally" at first.
"He was wearing sunglasses, a T-shirt, bermudas and slippers. And he was munching on a pancake and holding a drink when he came in," she said in Mandarin.
The 26-year-old employee, who declined to be named, said the man did not browse around the shop, but immediately asked to look at two gold rings that caught his interest.
Rings for men
The rings - for men - were worth more than $300 and $800 each.
"I took the rings out for him, and he hid the more expensive one in his palm, out of my sight, while holding the cheaper one with his thumb and forefinger," she said.
This was when she became suspicious. When he asked her to show him the gold necklaces that were displayed in a glass case behind her, she sensed trouble and decided to act.
She snatched the ring that was between his thumb and forefinger. When she did that, he fled.
"I shouted to my boss, who was standing at the shopfront, to give chase," she said. Her boss, who is pregnant, was chatting with a worker from the beauty parlour next door.
Their chase ended when the boss slipped a few metres later, falling knee-first.
Her stage of pregnancy is not known, but she had a visible bump. She was bleeding from her knees, said Mr Hung, who met her after the chase.
A police spokesman said the suspect was described as slim and about 1.7m tall. He had spiky hair and wore sunglasses, a black T-shirt and green bermudas.
He was last seen fleeing towards Block 369, Bukit Batok Street 31. Police investigations are ongoing.
This article was first published in The New Paper
By Amanda Yong
The New Paper
Thursday, Dec 22, 2011
SEVERAL minutes after their conversation, he heard shouts of "robbery".
Sales executive Terry Hung, 26, saw two women, one of them pregnant, chasing the man he had just spoken to.
The pregnant woman fell and the other woman stopped to help her.
Mr Hung ran after the man, caught up with him and they got into a scuffle.
But the man managed to flee after punching Mr Hung in the chest.
He made off with a gold ring worth about $800 from a goldsmith's shop at Block 371, Bukit Batok Street 31, on Sunday at around 2.50pm.
Mr Hung told The New Paper over the phone last night that he was just metres away from the goldsmith's shop at the time.
He promotes credit cards for a bank as part of his job and moves to a different location every day. It was his first time at Block 371.
A tan-complexioned man, who looked to be in his 20s, approached him to ask what he was selling.
"I told him I was promoting a credit card and asked if he wanted to sign up. He said he was busy and would come back later to sign up," said Mr Hung.
He gave the man his contact number though he didn't think the man was serious about getting the card.
Less than five minutes later, he heard women shouting "robbery" in Mandarin and saw two women hot on the heels of that man.
"It was drizzling, and he had run out to the open area near the carpark. The floor was slippery and the pregnant lady fell while running after him," he said.
Mr Hung told a passer-by to call the police and sprinted after the man. During the chase, Mr Hung shouted "robbery" in English and Mandarin, but no one came to his aid.
"I ran after him for about four to five blocks, in one big circle, until he slowed down to cross the road," he said.
He caught up with the man once they had both crossed the road.
"I kicked him on the backside and he fell on the ground," Mr Hung said. "I wanted to pin him down, but he turned around and punched me in the chest."
That blow did not injure Mr Hung, but it left him breathless for several seconds - enough time for the man to make a hasty escape.
The shop employee who served the man when he entered the shop said he had "behaved normally" at first.
"He was wearing sunglasses, a T-shirt, bermudas and slippers. And he was munching on a pancake and holding a drink when he came in," she said in Mandarin.
The 26-year-old employee, who declined to be named, said the man did not browse around the shop, but immediately asked to look at two gold rings that caught his interest.
Rings for men
The rings - for men - were worth more than $300 and $800 each.
"I took the rings out for him, and he hid the more expensive one in his palm, out of my sight, while holding the cheaper one with his thumb and forefinger," she said.
This was when she became suspicious. When he asked her to show him the gold necklaces that were displayed in a glass case behind her, she sensed trouble and decided to act.
She snatched the ring that was between his thumb and forefinger. When she did that, he fled.
"I shouted to my boss, who was standing at the shopfront, to give chase," she said. Her boss, who is pregnant, was chatting with a worker from the beauty parlour next door.
Their chase ended when the boss slipped a few metres later, falling knee-first.
Her stage of pregnancy is not known, but she had a visible bump. She was bleeding from her knees, said Mr Hung, who met her after the chase.
A police spokesman said the suspect was described as slim and about 1.7m tall. He had spiky hair and wore sunglasses, a black T-shirt and green bermudas.
He was last seen fleeing towards Block 369, Bukit Batok Street 31. Police investigations are ongoing.
This article was first published in The New Paper
