Uniformed officers wielding their weapons in action movies may be a cool sight, but such scenes no doubt pose their own dangers. An AETOS officer abused his access to a gun recently, when he used it to rob a shop in Jurong.
Though he managed to get away with a substantial amount of money, he couldn’t escape the arms of the law.
The 38-year-old now faces possible life imprisonment and multiple strokes of the cane.
According to TODAY, the 38-year-old auxiliary police officer had gone to work on Monday morning (12 Apr 2021) and drawn a gun from the AETOS headquarters.
Without receiving prior authorisation, he reportedly left the HQ with the weapon after changing out of his uniform.
He then went to a store at Jurong Gateway Road, where he handed over a note to the staff present, reports Shin Main Daily News.
The note apparently read, “This is a robbery. Don’t shout. I got gun in my pocket. Put all the money in the bag.”
After getting away with $24,000 in cash, the officer changed back into his uniform and returned to the AETOS HQ. From there, he took the company van to his deployment location, notes TODAY.
Police informed reporters at the media briefing that they were alerted to the incident at 3.55pm the same day.
Police cameras and the shop’s CCTV footage helped them to identify the AETOS officer, who was on duty that day. They were thus able to arrest him swiftly.
TODAY also reports that though the officer had robbed the store alone, he had transferred some of the cash he stole to a 34-year-old woman’s bank account.
Other amounts were deposited to several other accounts too, to clear debts he allegedly owed to moneylenders.
Including the woman, police arrested 9 people aged 16 to 48 for dishonestly receiving stolen property.
As for the AETOS officer, he will be charged in court today (14 Apr) for unlawful possession of arms in committing a planned crime.
If the court finds him guilty, he may face life imprisonment and 6 strokes of the cane.
While investigations are ongoing, the police are also trying to retrieve all of the stolen cash. They’ve recovered $17,500 so far, according to Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
In a relatively safe and peaceful country like Singapore, crimes involving dangerous weapons can be quite a big scare.
We’re thus thankful that the police were able to respond quickly and apprehend the suspect.
Hopefully, weapon acquisition procedures will be more secure moving forward, so such incidents won’t happen again.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Google Maps.
The residents were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Four people sustained minor injuries.
The two burglars are reportedly still on the run.
The pair face rude behaviour almost daily, he says.
She told the man to earn his own money.
An autopsy confirmed that he died from cardiorespiratory arrest.