Serial lingerie thief caught on camera
My Paper Monday, Feb 09, 2015
SPECIFIC TARGETS: Madam Tan said the thief would steal only young women's clothes.
For two years, someone has been stealing womens' clothes and undergarments - including pieces still dripping wet - left out to dry at a Bukit Panjang Housing Board estate in Senja Road.
About $2,000 worth of clothes have gone missing for one of the victims.
Now, she believes the serial thief has finally been found - and he appears to be a well-dressed young man, Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.
He was caught on video after the first floor resident - who wanted to be known only as J. Koh, 29 - and her mother had enough and spent about $200 to $300 to install a surveillance camera two to three weeks ago.
The clip, which was posted on citizen journalism website Stomp on Friday, shows a young man in a long-sleeved shirt loitering outside a ground floor unit.
He searches through the laundry outside the flat and looks around several times before making off with at least one piece of clothing.
The clip was recorded on Thursday, close to 2pm.
Ms Koh, who works in the finance sector, said that drying clothes inside her first floor flat is not ideal, so the laundry is left out to dry along the corridor or in the area outside the kitchen.
Her mother, Madam Tan, 56, said that the thief would steal young women's clothes, including lingerie, dresses, work clothes and sports attire belonging to her daughter and her son's wife.
However, the thief would not steal Madam Tan's clothes.
Once, the perpetrator stole her son's shirt, but Madam Tan believes that it was because the shirt was pink in colour and could have been mistaken for women's wear.
"And it wasn't just us. Our neighbours' clothes - left to dry along the corridor - have gone missing as well," Madam Tan said.
In the past, clothes would go missing infrequently, about once every six months, said Madam Tan.
But Ms Koh noticed that her clothes began disappearing since two years ago. Things got worse from November as clothes went missing more frequently.
On Jan 14 in the afternoon, Madam Tan hung six of her daughter's skirts and jacket to dry along the corridor. But within two hours, the wet clothes went missing. She decided to report to the police after that.
Ms Koh filed another report on Thursday after the suspected thief was caught on camera.
She has lost some 20 pieces of clothing worth about $2,000 in the past two years and had to buy new replacement clothes.
"I don't want to think about what the thief has been doing with my clothes. The very thought disgusts me," she said.
Police said investigations into the case are ongoing.
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