Police investigating report of man in dress loitering around Hougang flats

It's good to be neighbourly but this might be a little too close for comfort.

On Feb 10, Stomp reported that the police are investigating a report about a man who has been "loitering" around the common corridor of block 569 at Hougang Street 51 while wearing a woman's dress.

Stomp reader Ivan, who is also a resident of the block, shared video clips from his security camera with the online publication. These video clips were dated Jan 17, Feb 5, and Feb 6. In the videos on Jan 17 and Feb 5, the man can be seen loitering at the staircase and walking along the corridor.

However, the video clip from Feb 6 showed him walking past the camera while wearing a woman's dress.

Ivan told Stomp: "He usually comes around 7 to 10pm because it is most quiet on my floor and on the floors above and below mine." On Feb 6, Ivan also managed to follow the man to the staircase and confronted him.

"I stood at the top of the stairs looking down at him and asked him what he was doing. He was in the midst of changing out of his dress and into a T-shirt and jeans. He kept saying 'sorry' and using his hand to cover his face instead of answering my questions," added Ivan.

While the man was changing his clothes, Ivan noticed that a hammer and a long metal tool were in his backpack.

At that time, Ivan wasn't wearing a shirt and didn't have his phone on him so he told the man to wait while he "rushed back home", but the man had left by the time Ivan returned. Fortunately, Ivan managed to find him on the ground floor.

"I then took the lift down to look for him and saw a man on a bike about 30 metres away. I knew it was him because he looked back at me and took off."

But his chase was futile as he was unable to catch up after running for "several metres".

Ivan subsequently made a police report and explained: "I'm concerned for the safety of our homes as I suspect the man was attempting to break into one of the units. My neighbour's home is quiet at the time the man usually comes and he can be seen in the video peeking at their flat."

He added that residents of the block have noticed the man's strange behaviour since June last year.

editor@asiaone.com