A 60-year-old man was arrested by the police on July 1 after he threatened shop assistants with two knives at a store located in Block 682 Hougang Avenue 4.
According to reports from Shin Min Daily News and The Straits Times, the incident occurred around 11 am when the assistants approached the man and requested that he remove his cardboard boxes and debris from outside their shop.
The man was angered by the request from the shop staffs, and he responded by using profanity and smoking in the area. Despite being asked to leave, he continued to escalate the situation by using increasingly aggressive language.
Eventually, the man took out a knife from his trolley and waved it at one of the assistants. He then brandished another knife, assuming that nobody was paying attention to him.
Although one of the assistants believed that he wouldn’t harm anyone, she contacted the police as a precautionary measure.
According to a resident who spoke to Shin Min Daily News, the man had been sleeping in the open area outside the store since the previous night. Other store assistants mentioned that he would often collect discarded items and behave strangely, occasionally using vulgar language. However, they had never witnessed such aggressive behavior from him before.
Another shop assistant revealed that when she arrived to open her outlet at 8 am on July 1, the man was already involved in an argument. He continued to quarrel with residents and staff members, using vulgarities throughout the altercation.
Approximately five police officers arrived at the scene, and despite the man’s resistance, they managed to subdue him and take him to a nearby open space. He was eventually handcuffed and taken away.
The police received a distress call at 12 pm on July 1, and they arrested the man on charges of criminal intimidation and obstructing a public servant from performing his duties.
Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident, and investigations are currently underway.
Header images source: Google Maps and Shin Min Daily News.