Woman, 74, allegedly stole S$389 worth of items from Jurong West NTUC FairPrice outlet on 3 occasions

A 74-year-old woman allegedly stole 27 food items amounting to about S$74 on Aug. 28, 2024 from the NTUC FairPrice outlet located at 399 Yung Sheng Road in Jurong West.

She was detained at the scene by a retail staff from the outlet while attempting to leave without making payment and was subsequently arrested.

Further investigations revealed that she was also involved in two earlier cases of alleged shop theft at the same NTUC FairPrice outlet.

On Aug. 1, 2024, she had allegedly stolen 27 food items amounting to about S$103.

On Mar. 29, 2024, she had allegedly stolen 48 food items amounting to about S$212.

The woman was scheduled to to be charged with three counts of theft in dwelling, the Singapore Police Force said in a news release.

She was one of 15 people to be charged on Jun. 9 and 10 for their suspected involvement in separate cases of shop theft.

The youngest suspect was 20 years old.

Other cases

Here are the details of some of the other cases:

On May 7, 2025, a 46-year-old-woman had allegedly stolen five grocery items, amounting to about S$202, from the Cold Storage outlet located at Compass One.

She was detained by a loss prevention officer from the outlet while attempting to leave without making payment, and arrested by police officers who attended to the incident.

The woman will be charged with one count of theft in dwelling.

On Mar. 23, 2025, a 54-year-old man had allegedly stolen eight food items, amounting to about S$80, from the Cold Storage outlet located at Great World City.

He was detained by a loss prevention officer from the outlet while attempting to leave without making payment, and arrested by police officers who attended to the incident.

The man will be charged with one count of theft in dwelling.

On Jan. 24, 2025, a 58-year-old man had allegedly stolen three audio earbuds, amounting to about S$687, from the Challenger outlet located at Causeway Point.

Through follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from surveillance footage, the police managed to establish his identity.

The man will be charged with one count of theft in dwelling.

On Nov. 9, 2024, a 62-year-old woman had allegedly stolen two boxes of flu tablets, amounting to about S$31, from the Sheng Siong outlet located at Junction Nine.

Through follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from surveillance footage, the police managed to establish her identity.

Further investigations revealed that she was also found to be involved in an earlier case of alleged shop theft at the same Sheng Siong outlet on Nov. 3, 2024, where she had allegedly stolen two boxes of flu tablets, amounting to about S$31.

The woman will be charged with two counts of theft in dwelling.

On Sep. 9, 2024, a 32-year-old woman had allegedly stolen 11 clothing items, amounting to about S$581, from the Zara outlet located at VivoCity.

She was detained by a retail staff from the outlet while attempting to leave without making payment, and arrested by police officers who attended to the incident.

Further investigations revealed that she was involved in an earlier case of alleged shop theft at 100 AM mall.

On the same day, she had allegedly stolen 40 items, amounting to about S$881, from the MUJI outlet located at 100 AM mall.

The woman will be charged with two counts of theft in dwelling.

On Jul. 20, 2024, a 34-year-old woman had allegedly stolen seven grocery items, amounting to about S$60, from the Sheng Siong outlet located at 61 Teban Gardens Road.

She was detained at scene by a retail staff from the outlet while attempting to leave without making payment, and arrested by police officers who attended to the incident.

Through further follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from surveillance footage, it was revealed that she was involved in four earlier cases of alleged shop theft at the same Sheng Siong outlet.

Between Jul. 8 and 17, 2024, she had allegedly stolen 16 grocery items amounting to about S$200.

The woman will be charged with five counts of theft in dwelling.

Penalties

The offence of theft in dwelling carries an imprisonment term of up to seven years and a fine.

CCTV footage & vigilant staff

Seven out of the 15 persons charged were identified through CCTV footage provided by retailers, police said.

The remainder were detected by vigilant staff or loss prevention officers.

With more CCTV cameras installed within retail premises, retailers can easily review the footage and lodge police reports against shoplifters, even if they are not apprehended at scene during the commission of the offence, police added.

The police also urged retailers to join the Shop Theft Awareness for Retailers (STAR) programme.

Under the STAR programme, the police work closely with retailers to analyse the stores’ risk factors and vulnerabilities to shop theft, and jointly identify effective and practical crime prevention measures.

Major retail chains such as NTUC FairPrice, Sheng Siong, Watsons and Popular have joined the STAR programme, implementing various crime prevention strategies through this collaboration to strengthen their defence against shop theft.

Retailers may contact their nearest Neighbourhood Police Centre to find out more about the programme.

Top photo via Google Maps