Man caught on CCTV stealing 9 Black Thorn durians worth $240 in Jurong

A durian seller was baffled after discovering a man had stolen nine Black Thorn durians worth $240 from his stall in Jurong. 

The incident occurred on Sunday (June 14) at around 3.40am at the Hojiak Durian & Fruits — located at Block 351, Jurong East Street 31.

CCTV footage of the incident, shared on the stall's Facebook page the same day, shows a man dressed in a dark green shirt and beige shorts, approaching a basket of durians with at least three plastic bags in hand. 

The basket, partially covered with a blue tarpaulin sheet, is slightly exposed. 

The man is seen setting the plastic bags aside and lifting the tarpaulin sheet before loading the durians into one bag.

He repeats the process, filling the other two bags and walks off with three bags in hand.

The post captioned: "Sir, if you don't have money for durian, you can come and tell us, and we'll treat you. 

"You can use the CDC vouchers given by the government buy durian. Don't do anything illegal. Isn't it a bit excessive to take seven to eight durians at once?"

The post also addressed the man directly, urging him — or anyone who knows him to pass the message — that the matter will be dropped if he paid them back by Sunday, failing which he will be reported to the police. 

It is not known if the seller has made a police report.

The stall owner, Zhou (transliteration), 27, told Shin Min Daily News that they had received a large delivery of durians during the peak season and had placed some outside the shop, covered with tarpaulins.

When employees arrived to open the shop later that morning, they found the tarpaulins in disarray and the durian piles seemingly with "holes" which led them to suspect theft, said Zhou. 

Man visited stall before

Although the man has visited the stall before, Zhou had reportedly not seen him for over a year and did not know why the man stole the durians. 

The seller revealed that he has been robbed multiple times in the five years of operating the stall. 

As the area outside the shop is quieter at night, especially after 10pm, "durian thieves" would occasionally appear during the peak season, he added. 

"Sometimes when we have a large stock, durian are left outside. Someone will take one or two, but this man took nine at once and left to get a plastic bag before coming back. It's really outrageous." 

AsiaOne has reached out to Hojiak Durian Stall for more information. 

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esther.lam@asiaone.com