Man and two female youths arrested for robbing taxi in Cranewell Road

A male, aged 20, and two female youths aged 17 and 14, were arrested after committing armed robbing against a taxi driver along Cranewell Road this morning.

The victim, a 57 year-old taxi driver picked up a male and 2 female passengers along Tampines St 21 and was directed to proceed to Changi Beach Club. Before reaching the destination, one of the female subjects asked the victim to stop along Cranewell Road, saying that she needed to vomit. The 2 girls then alighted from the taxi while the victim waited for them. Moments later, the male passenger suddenly brandished a penknife blade and placed it on the victim’s neck. A struggle ensued and the 2 female subjects joined in to restraint the driver. In the midst of the struggle, the 3 subjects took away cash amounting to $179 from the victim’s shirt pocket and fled the scene on foot.

Upon receiving the information, officers from Bedok Police Division swiftly responded to the scene and commenced a systematic search for the culprits. Their diligent efforts paid off when the officers spotted the trio hiding in the bushes along Netheravon Road at about 6.40am. The 3 suspects were immediately placed under arrest within 4 hours after the incident was reported. The $179 in cash was recovered from the suspects. The penknife blade was also recovered at the scene.

The 3 suspects will has been charged in Court for the offence of Armed Robbery with Hurt under Section 394 read with Section 397 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonment and not less than 12 strokes of the cane.

Singapore Police on the lookout for a man who offers to help and steal from Changi Airport travellers

THE police are on the lookout for a man who offers to help Changi Airport travellers with checking in their luggage, only to steal from them or make off with their bags.

The police are on the lookout for a man who offers to help

Changi Airport travellers with checking in their luggage, only

to steal from them or make off with their bags.

 

The man, believed to have been involved in at least two such instances so far, struck in April, once each in Terminals 1 and 2.

The police, releasing a statement and a photograph of the suspect on Saturday, said the man has been linked to at least two cases of cheating-related offences, in which he would approach unsuspecting victims on the pretext of helping them check in their overweight luggage.

The Straits Times understands that he may be a Filipino who homes in on fellow Filipinos under the guise of helping his countrymen.

In one case, he made off with a pouch containing more than $1,500; in the other case, he took a suitcase with personal items valued at $300.

Investigations were launched after reports were made.

Anyone with information on this man is requested to call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Singapore Police busted syndicate distributing pirated games and providing illegal modification services

Police have arrested seven men, aged between 19 and 34, who are believed to be members of a syndicate involved in distributing pirated games and providing illegal modification services which allowed pirated games to be played on modified game consoles.

In a 13-hour long operation which commenced on 13 April 2011 at about 1pm, officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) raided three retail shops located in Jurong West, Taman Jurong and Boon Keng. During the raid, modified game consoles from Nintendo DS, Wii and Sony PlayStation Portables, pirated games, counterfeit accessories, laptops, hard disks, and memory sticks containing circumvention programs used to modify the game consoles were found in all three retail shops. The estimated street value of the infringing items was close to S$36,000/-.

The successful operation came after several months of intensive intelligence operations, where CID officers established the identities of the suspects who were members of a local syndicate that provided the illegal modification services for game consoles. The syndicate’s retail shops had legitimate shop-fronts with typical counters, racks and shelving to display retail goods. However, behind partitioned walls, illegal modifications to game consoles were carried out and pirated games were downloaded.

Head of the Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the CID , Superintendent of Police Loh Kah Wai, said, "Police take a serious view of such intellectual property rights violations, and will continue to clamp down on syndicates involved in the modification of game consoles and the sale of counterfeit games in Singapore. Circumvention of built-in anti-piracy controls carries a heavy fine and imprisonment, and offenders will be prosecuted in Court.”

Persons found guilty of providing counterfeit products shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 for the article or for each article in respect of which the offence was committed or $100,000, whichever is lower, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both.