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THIS would-be thief’s target was not a cash register filled with money, but a crate full of large, live crabs.
And he knew just where and how to get it – at the House of Seafood, a restaurant along Yio Chu Kang Road famous for its black pepper as well as its salted egg crabs.
The thief had already picked six of the crustaceans, which the restaurant owner said cost him about $420.
Served up at $38 per kg, they could have fetched about $570.
When a restaurant worker arrived, the man sprinted off, empty-handed.
The owner of the restaurant, Mr Francis Ng, 39, told The New Paper that the incident happened at about 6.50am on Sept 4.
The incident was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV).
The man, who wore a short-sleeve shirt and long pants and had a crew cut, appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
Knew his way around
He entered the restaurant by jumping over the fence and he seemed to be familiar with the area, going straight to 10 crates that were covered with gunny sacks.
The crates were near the back of the restaurant but outside a shuttered area.
Each crate had some 40 live Sri Lankan crabs.
Within two minutes, the man had selected six large crabs, each weighing about 2.5kg.
He tossed them into a red pail lying nearby.
He was quick, but he seemed determined to pick the choicest ones – the biggest, the best.
He even took the time to move the crates around to get to the ones below.
The man also knew how to handle the crustaceans.
“Inexperienced handlers hold crabs by the raffia string that binds their claws, but this guy held the crabs by their bodies,” said Mr Ng, demonstrating how the man held his catch.
But the man’s plans were scuttled when one of Mr Ng’s 30 workers walked into the shop.
Said Mr Ng: “My workers live upstairs and it so happened that this worker went back.”
The 45-year-old kitchen helper, who has worked there for three months, saw the man, but did not raise the alarm because he thought the man was a supplier or a delivery man.
The man, who must have spotted the worker, did not panic.
He got up slowly and strolled past him, breaking into a run only when he reached the entrance of the shop.
The worker was unable to catch up with him.
The incident lasted less than three minutes.
A police spokesman said they received a call about the incident and are investigating.
Said Mr Ng: “I suspect the man could be a delivery man or even a regular customer who knows where the crabs are
stored.”
He hopes the thief will be nabbed with evidence from the CCTV footage.
He is also confident that his worker will recognise the man should he visit again.
Mr Ng said it is the first attempted theft at his restaurant since it opened 2 1/2years ago.
Will he continue to leave his crabs outside the shuttered area of the shop?
He replied: “Yes, I’m not making changes.
“In a way, I hope the thief comes back and tries to steal again, so we can nab him.”
And he knew just where and how to get it – at the House of Seafood, a restaurant along Yio Chu Kang Road famous for its black pepper as well as its salted egg crabs.
The thief had already picked six of the crustaceans, which the restaurant owner said cost him about $420.
Served up at $38 per kg, they could have fetched about $570.
When a restaurant worker arrived, the man sprinted off, empty-handed.
The owner of the restaurant, Mr Francis Ng, 39, told The New Paper that the incident happened at about 6.50am on Sept 4.
The incident was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV).
The man, who wore a short-sleeve shirt and long pants and had a crew cut, appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
Knew his way around
He entered the restaurant by jumping over the fence and he seemed to be familiar with the area, going straight to 10 crates that were covered with gunny sacks.
The crates were near the back of the restaurant but outside a shuttered area.
Each crate had some 40 live Sri Lankan crabs.
Within two minutes, the man had selected six large crabs, each weighing about 2.5kg.
He tossed them into a red pail lying nearby.
He was quick, but he seemed determined to pick the choicest ones – the biggest, the best.
He even took the time to move the crates around to get to the ones below.
The man also knew how to handle the crustaceans.
“Inexperienced handlers hold crabs by the raffia string that binds their claws, but this guy held the crabs by their bodies,” said Mr Ng, demonstrating how the man held his catch.
But the man’s plans were scuttled when one of Mr Ng’s 30 workers walked into the shop.
Said Mr Ng: “My workers live upstairs and it so happened that this worker went back.”
The 45-year-old kitchen helper, who has worked there for three months, saw the man, but did not raise the alarm because he thought the man was a supplier or a delivery man.
The man, who must have spotted the worker, did not panic.
He got up slowly and strolled past him, breaking into a run only when he reached the entrance of the shop.
The worker was unable to catch up with him.
The incident lasted less than three minutes.
A police spokesman said they received a call about the incident and are investigating.
Said Mr Ng: “I suspect the man could be a delivery man or even a regular customer who knows where the crabs are
stored.”
He hopes the thief will be nabbed with evidence from the CCTV footage.
He is also confident that his worker will recognise the man should he visit again.
Mr Ng said it is the first attempted theft at his restaurant since it opened 2 1/2years ago.
Will he continue to leave his crabs outside the shuttered area of the shop?
He replied: “Yes, I’m not making changes.
“In a way, I hope the thief comes back and tries to steal again, so we can nab him.”
