2 boys arrested for stealing from newspaper vendor, 71

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2 boys arrested for stealing from newspaper vendor, 71

Published on Dec 15, 2011

WORST TIME TO LOSE MONEY

'Both times, it was in the evening, at about 7pm, when I had the most money in my container.'

Newspaper vendor Son Ah Hon (above), who had money stolen from her twice in just six days in Yishun

-- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

By Elizabeth Soh

Police have arrested two boys - aged 10 and 12 - who were brazen enough to steal from an elderly newspaper vendor in Yishun twice in just six days.

A Straits Times check showed that other elderly vendors in the area have also complained of a recent spate of thefts allegedly committed by schoolboys, some as young as 10.

The two boys were arrested on Tuesday after Madam Son Ah Hon, 71, who runs a makeshift news-stand at Block 174, Yishun Avenue 7, filed a police report.

They are out on bail now. On both occasions, Madam Son was manning her stall, which is near a bus stop, with her 84-year-old husband who has difficulty walking on his own.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
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Young thieves prey on elderly folk
Lina Chan

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Two young boys, age 10 and 12, have been caught stealing twice from a newspaper stand located in Yishun.

Their victim, newspaper vendor Mdm Son Ah Hon (age 71), described how the two boys worked together to steal money.

One of them would browse a newspaper and ask for its price to distract the stall vendor, while the other would snatch a money-filled container.

The two would then take off with the loot.

Mdm Son chose not to make a police report after the first such theft, but the boys returned a mere five days later to snatch another money-filled pouch from her stall.

Mdm Son finally decided to make a police report after her son persuaded her to do so.

By then, the boys had stolen approximately $100 from her.

According to a Straits Times report, Mdm Son lamented that "both times, it was in the evening, at about 7pm, when I had the most money in my container".

Mdm Son was also not the only victim of the two boys.

Other vendors around near her stall also became victims of snatch theft.

But the vendors tended not to make police reports because the theft amounts was small, about $30 to $50.

However, the victims all reported the thieves as boys about ten years old.

The boys had seen newspaper vendors as easy prey because they were mostly elderly folk.

They believed the elderly folk could never hope to chase them down after the theft.

Yishun is not the only area where such thefts were reported. Stalls in Simei, Chai Chee and Bishan have also been falling victim to thieves.

Most of the vendors have since lodged police reports.

 

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Gifts for newspaper vendor who lost $100 to theft

Published on Dec 16, 2011

Madam Son Ah Hon received shopping vouchers and a rice cooker from SPH's Circulation Department, while a newspaper distributor gave her $150. -- PHOTO: SPH CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

She had her daily takings stolen not once but twice this month. But Madam Son Ah Hon, 71, has not been left empty-handed in this season of giving.

The newsstand operator had about $100 stolen from her this month by two boys aged 10 and 12.

On Thursday, two representatives from the Singapore Press Holdings' Circulation Department gave her $100 worth of shopping vouchers and a rice cooker as a show of care and a token of appreciation for services rendered. Newspaper distributor Peter Wong gave her $150.

Madam Son runs a makeshift newsstand at Block 174, Yishun Avenue 7, with her 84-year-old husband.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.
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