Jun 25, 2010
Gang stole from over 50 cars
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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<!-- end left side bar --> <!-- story content : start --> OVER two months, Cheng Zai Rong and his accomplices stole from more than 50 cars. They targeted vehicles parked in houses on landed property as they knew that the vehicles were rarely locked. Their loot between February and March comprised mostly CashCards, cell phones and cash. At least 16 suspects, aged between 15 and 21, have been charged and on Friday, three of them pleaded guilty.
They were Cheng, Gary Yeo Jia Jung, 16, and Foo Zhi Peng, 19. All are unemployed. District Judge Ng Peng Hong called for probation and reformative training reports, which will be presented to the court in three weeks. The police prosecutor said that the trio targeted cars in private residential estates, especially in Lentor, Katong and Jalan Kayu.
The gang, which included three girls, would operate in groups of three or five members, with some acting as lookouts while others would climb over the gates or the fences of the homes. On a single night, they would steal from up to 15 cars. They would strike after midnight and would not break into locked cars.
On Feb 20, a Lentor Way resident reported to police that her CashCard had been stolen. An alert was issued and checks with the Network for Electronic Transfers (Nets) and DBS Bank revealed that the money stored in the stolen CashCard was refunded to Foo's bank account on March 4. Police picked him up and the accomplices were arrested in the next two days.
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