Two arrested after returning to shop where they allegedly stole pump
A man and a woman were arrested for allegedly stealing a water pump from an aquarium shop in Chinatown after they returned to the crime scene later the same day.
Police told The Straits Times that they received a call for assistance at 4 Sago Lane at 7.42pm on Saturday.
The man, 27, and the woman, 25, were arrested for shop theft and drug-related offences, the police said.
ST reported that utensils for drug consumption were found on them.
Police investigations are ongoing.
The aquarium shop's owner, known only as Mr Wang, told Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News that the two were frequent customers, so his staff could recognise them.
Mr Wang, 64, said they first visited the shop on the day of the alleged crime at about 10.50am and he became suspicious when he noticed an unusual bulge in the woman's clothing as they were leaving.
He added: "The pump is about 25cm long and quite large, plus she was wearing shorts, so it was very obvious."
Mr Wang said they could not stop her as the pump was hidden near her private parts.
He called the police after reviewing closed-circuit television footage and saw that they had stolen the pump, worth $12.
CALM
But the couple then returned that same evening.
Mr Wang said: "They came back after 7pm, and we alerted the police immediately. The woman was calm, but the man tried to run."
A resident who lives nearby and was known only as Madam Huang, 45, told Shin Min that when he was being arrested, the man struggled and at least two police officers had to hold him down.
Mr Wang said that even though there are usually two workers on duty at the shop, with 12 closed-circuit television cameras installed, that still did not deter the suspected thieves.
He added that the pair would often split up when they visited his shop and the man would chat with the workers there.
Mr Wang told Shin Min: "They would even buy some cheap products, so we never thought that they were here to steal."
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