Thief steals Singapore car in 10 seconds at Johor Baru shopping mall

Thief steals Singapore car in 10 seconds at Johor Baru shopping mall

SINGAPORE - A Singapore-registered car was stolen in 10 seconds at a carpark outside Tebrau city, a popular shopping mall in Johor Baru.

Owner Nolan Khoo, 32, on Tuesday (Aug 11) posted on Facebook a video of the incident, which was captured on a surveillance camera from a nearby store.

"My car (a Honda Civic with registration plate SDX3505S) stolen in 10 seconds at Tebrau city on Aug 10 at 4.20pm," wrote Mr Khoo, an assistant manager at a logistics firm.

"Please help share to friends and loved ones to report to the police if seen car. Car thief is highly skilful."

The video shows a white car stopping next to Mr Khoo's car. A man then stepped out from the passenger seat, unlocked the driver-side door of Mr Khoo's car and drove it away.

Responding to comments on his post, Mr Khoo speculated that the thief could have "some sort of master key and remote" to pull off the heist so quickly.

[[nid:215803]]

He told The Straits Times that he was on a three-day holiday in JB with his wife and had parked the car at the mall for a meal. An iPad, a CashCard and his wallet containing some money were left in the vehicle.

"We go to JB quite regularly (two or three times a month) and this is the first time something like that has happened to us," said Mr Khoo.

"I'm in shock at how fast the thief managed to commit the crime."

Mr Khoo said the Johor police has informed him that the chances of recovering his car are "50-50" as it would likely have been exported overseas.

Last month, a Singapore-registered white Honda was stolen at JB's KSL City Mall.

But in a remarkable case of online sleuthing, it was eventually recovered - and a suspected thief nabbed - after the owner's brother posted an online appeal for netizens to help locate it.

See also: Tips to prevent you from being victims of crime in JB


This article was first published on Aug 11, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.