Friends catch alleged thief after buying e-scooter from him
After spending $80 on what appeared to be a bargain, Mr Muhammad Azaari and his friends found out that they had just bought a stolen e-scooter.
It had been offered to them by a stranger in Geylang in the early hours yesterday.
When they confronted the seller later, he denied that he had stolen it.
Mr Azaari then called the owner, who had put up a Facebook post.
Police confirmed that a 32-year-old man was arrested and that investigations are ongoing.
They were alerted to a case of theft in Geylang Lorong 10 at 6.10am.
Mr Azaari, 28, who is unemployed, and his group of friends were having supper in a coffee shop in the area at about 2am when a man approached them trying to sell an e-scooter for $80.
The e-scooter was of the Dualtron brand, which can cost from about $2,000 to more than $4,000, said Mr Azaari, who knew it was an expensive brand.
"Although we were a little suspicious, we did not think it was stolen. He said he really needed the money and looked desperate, so my friend took pity on him and bought it," he told The New Paper.
But he had his suspicions confirmed later when he happened to see a Facebook post from an e-scooter group about a stolen vehicle that looked similar to the one his friend had bought.
They went to look for the seller in the vicinity, but he had already left. Around 5am at Lorong 10, they saw the man again and chased him.
When caught, the man denied that he stole the e-scooter, Mr Azaari said.
They took him back to the coffee shop at Lorong 10 before the police and the owner arrived.
According to Lianhe Wanbao, the owner was having supper with four friends at Lorong 35 when a man in a red shirt made off with the scooter parked close by.
The group spent about 30 minutes chasing after the man but lost sight of him. They then put up a plea on Facebook and made a police report, added the Wanbao report.
Mr Azaari said the e-scooter was returned to the owner, who gave $80 to his friend.
Criminal lawyer Diana Ngiam said it is an offence to "dishonestly receive or retain stolen property, but only if the person knew or had reason to believe that the property was stolen property".
The penalty, if one is found guilty under the law, is a maximum of five years' jail, or a fine, or both.
The maximum penalty for theft is three years' jail and a fine.
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