<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Couple saved from snatch theft in Johor
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Strangers accost and attack thief who tried to grab woman's handbag </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cheryl Ong
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Ms Benette Tan and her husband Francis Tham sustained cuts and bruises from the incident at a Johor Baru car wash. -- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ROUGH justice saved a Singaporean couple from falling victim to a snatch thief outside a Johor Bahru car wash on Tuesday morning.
A dozen or so strangers came to their rescue, when a man on a motorcycle tried to grab Ms Benette Tan's handbag as she was waiting for her car to be washed.
Ms Tan, a sales consultant, was by the side of the road outside the car wash when she felt a tug on her arm.
She looked down and was shocked to see a man on a motorbike trying to pull her handbag free.
The tug-of-war lasted no more than a few seconds before Ms Tan, 37, lost her balance and fell forward on the floor.
Seeing the struggle, her businessman husband Francis Tham, who was a short distance away, ran with his arms wide to block the snatch thief and stop him from getting away.
The slow-moving bike hit him and sent Mr Tham, 44, sprawling.
At that moment, a car wash attendant stepped forward and shoved the thief off his two-wheeler.
The thief tried to escape on foot, but his run with bad luck continued.
He ran straight into the path of a reversing truck and was knocked to the ground.
While the man lay stunned, said Ms Tan, some 10 bystanders emerged, grabbed hold of him and started raining punches on him.
'I even saw an uncle use his bike helmet to hit the thief. Everyone just went crazy,' said Ms Tan.
She said the thief insisted he was innocent, even after he was dragged before her and she identified him as the man who had tried to steal her handbag. It contained her mobile phones, passport and RM100 (S$42).
Bleeding and injured, the man was taken away by police officers who arrived 30 minutes later.
The attempted snatch theft was a nasty surprise for the couple, who visit Johor twice a month to shop and eat.
They had planned to spend just the morning there, but it was nearly night before they were able to leave.
Ms Tan had scrapes and bruises on her knees and hands, while Mr Tham had cuts and bruises on his legs.
Kind Malaysians drove the couple to a hospital for treatment and later to a police station.
They consider themselves lucky.
'Thank God he didn't have a weapon or I won't be talking to you,' she said.
Johor police said about 5,000 incidents of crime were reported in the state from January to March, compared with 6,106 cases in the same period last year.
Tourists and women with handbags are popular targets of snatch thieves as they are considered easy prey.
The experience has left Ms Tan shaken.
She said she would not carry anything valuable in full view next time.
'I thought it was about being unlucky,' she said.
'I just didn't realise how common these cases are and that it could happen to me even if I were careful.' [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Strangers accost and attack thief who tried to grab woman's handbag </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Cheryl Ong
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Ms Benette Tan and her husband Francis Tham sustained cuts and bruises from the incident at a Johor Baru car wash. -- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ROUGH justice saved a Singaporean couple from falling victim to a snatch thief outside a Johor Bahru car wash on Tuesday morning.
A dozen or so strangers came to their rescue, when a man on a motorcycle tried to grab Ms Benette Tan's handbag as she was waiting for her car to be washed.
Ms Tan, a sales consultant, was by the side of the road outside the car wash when she felt a tug on her arm.
She looked down and was shocked to see a man on a motorbike trying to pull her handbag free.
The tug-of-war lasted no more than a few seconds before Ms Tan, 37, lost her balance and fell forward on the floor.
Seeing the struggle, her businessman husband Francis Tham, who was a short distance away, ran with his arms wide to block the snatch thief and stop him from getting away.
The slow-moving bike hit him and sent Mr Tham, 44, sprawling.
At that moment, a car wash attendant stepped forward and shoved the thief off his two-wheeler.
The thief tried to escape on foot, but his run with bad luck continued.
He ran straight into the path of a reversing truck and was knocked to the ground.
While the man lay stunned, said Ms Tan, some 10 bystanders emerged, grabbed hold of him and started raining punches on him.
'I even saw an uncle use his bike helmet to hit the thief. Everyone just went crazy,' said Ms Tan.
She said the thief insisted he was innocent, even after he was dragged before her and she identified him as the man who had tried to steal her handbag. It contained her mobile phones, passport and RM100 (S$42).
Bleeding and injured, the man was taken away by police officers who arrived 30 minutes later.
The attempted snatch theft was a nasty surprise for the couple, who visit Johor twice a month to shop and eat.
They had planned to spend just the morning there, but it was nearly night before they were able to leave.
Ms Tan had scrapes and bruises on her knees and hands, while Mr Tham had cuts and bruises on his legs.
Kind Malaysians drove the couple to a hospital for treatment and later to a police station.
They consider themselves lucky.
'Thank God he didn't have a weapon or I won't be talking to you,' she said.
Johor police said about 5,000 incidents of crime were reported in the state from January to March, compared with 6,106 cases in the same period last year.
Tourists and women with handbags are popular targets of snatch thieves as they are considered easy prey.
The experience has left Ms Tan shaken.
She said she would not carry anything valuable in full view next time.
'I thought it was about being unlucky,' she said.
'I just didn't realise how common these cases are and that it could happen to me even if I were careful.' [email protected]
