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On their recent trip to Johor Bahru, a group of Singaporeans arranged to meet some Malaysian friends there.

What they did not expect was to stumble upon an armed robbery at knifepoint.

Despite the apparent danger, however, one of them bravely ran back into the restaurant to assist an injured man.

Daylight robbery at JB restaurant

According to Facebook user Yijie, the daylight robbery occurred from around 1:20pm to 1:30pm on June 8, 2022 at Monet, a restaurant at Mount Austin.

Mount Austin is roughly a 25-minute drive away from Woodlands checkpoint.

Six men holding machetes allegedly rushed into a private room in the restaurant, Yijie said, appealing for those with leads or relevant dashcam recordings to get in touch with him.

The Facebook user, who appears to work at the restaurant, said that a reward will be given out.

A media statement posted by Polis Daerah Johor Bahru Selatan on June 9 states they are tracking down four male suspects to assist with an investigation regarding an armed robbery with machetes, with injuries involved.

Their report claimed the suspects were tall and thin and wore black masks that only showed their eyes and mouths, adding that the vehicle they used was a silver Toyota Estima car.

It also revealed that the three victims are aged between 26 to 29, and the four items taken include three Rolex watches.

Two men slashed

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News (SMDN), the boss of an online watch shop, V-Time Watch, surnamed Cai, 27, revealed that the victims were his employees.

They were meeting a buyer to conduct a transaction involving two Rolex watches.

After they had concluded negotiations with the customer, the latter chose to conduct the transaction at restaurant Monet.

Cai said that the security of the place appeared to be "not bad" and since it was broad daylight, they did not think it was a bad idea.

He sent two employees and a male bodyguard to the scene to conduct the transaction.

Unexpectedly, not long after the trio entered the room, four masked men wielding knives burst in from the back door and started attacking one of the employees and the bodyguard.

The commotion in the room startled the other diners and restaurant staff, causing everyone to scatter in an attempt to flee.

Robber allegedly made reservation for birthday surprise

Cai said the robber, who allegedly pretended to be a customer and a datuk, had paid a deposit of RM5,000 (around S$1,576) for the watches.

This "datuk" then reportedly made the restaurant booking and said it was for a friend's surprise birthday.

The booking included a private room and menu worth RM5,000 (around S$1,576). 

Cai revealed the text message conversation between the restaurant and the "datuk" where they repeatedly claimed that money is not a problem as long as the environment is comfortable, as they will be discussing business.

Cai said when his employees told him that the room was empty upon arriving at the scene, he started to become suspicious.

Unfortunately, by the time Cai could go to the restaurant, the incident had happened.

He shared that previously, they've had two or three customers who would choose strange meeting points.

In response, Cai and his team would change the meeting location, and not get out of the car during the transaction.

They usually conduct such transactions at the watch shop, but occasionally have customers requesting to do it at a restaurant.

That day, they suffered a total loss of RM500,000 (around S$157,643), comprising the two Rolex watches that were brought for the transaction, and the Rolex watch the male employee was wearing.

They also lost a gold ring.

Singaporean rushed in to help the injured

Among the diners at the restaurant included a 56-year-old Singaporean man named Yang You Ren (transliteration from Chinese).

He revealed that he had gone to Johor Bahru with four friends on Tuesday that week.

On the day of the incident, the five of them had planned to meet four Malaysian friends and another Singaporean friend for a meal.

Yang was walking back to the restaurant after smoking outside when he witnessed everyone running out of the restaurant, he said.

After hearing about what happened from one of the wait staff, he made his way to the room and saw an injured man who said his money had been taken.

Yang noticed his arm had been cut so deep that the bone could be seen.

He then helped the man out of the restaurant.

Yang then asked the restaurant staff for napkins to cover the man's wound while he sat down to wait.

Upon learning from the man that his companion had also been injured, Yang returned to the room to have a look and noticed that the other man's black jacket was soaked in blood.

As Yang and his friends had other appointments to attend to, he passed his contact number to the restaurant and left, hoping the two men's injuries were not too serious, he said.

According to SMDN, Yang initially assumed a fire had broken out after seeing customers dashing out and hearing a male waiter talk about a fire.

Thus, he had ran into the restaurant with a fire extinguisher, thinking it might be able to help put out a small fire.

He eventually realised it was a robbery, but felt that the fire extinguisher might still come in handy to take on the robbers and did not retreat.

He disclosed that his friends who were there were worried about him and berated him for being so rash.

They only found out that night that there were six robbers, which inevitably made them feel scared.

Yang said he would have still gone in to help, adding that those who were unaware could remain outside to help and that since he was aware, he cannot feign ignorance.

Employee's injury required almost 100 stitches

Cai said that his employee had received close to 100 stitches after suffering from nerve injury from the attack.

While his condition is currently stable, he is unable to move his fingers and will need to undergo physiotherapy for his recovery.

According to Cai, it continues to be business as usual for the company.

Due to the nature of the online business that requires them to interact with unfamiliar customers, they will enhance the safety awareness to ensure the safety of their employees, he added.

Cai has also posted on Facebook to ask for witnesses or dash cam videos of the robbers, and will reward such leads accordingly.

Three-minute robbery

Cai told SMDN that the robbery took less than three minutes.

He shared that after the robbers barged into the room, one employee received two slashes on his right arm and the bodyguard was knifed in the back.

The robbers then threatened to slash the victim's heads if they moved, and ordered them to lie on the ground.

Then, the robbers not only took his employee's bag, but also made him remove the Rolex watch he was wearing before fleeing the scene.

When Cai arrived at the scene, he saw Yang helping his employee but did not have time to ascertain his identity before rushing the injured man to the hospital.

Top images via 宜杰 and 匯辰V-Time Watch on Facebook.