Man, 58, sneaks into Geylang flat and hides under bed, threatens tenant with knife and scissors
A 58-year-old man trespassed into a Geylang apartment and hid under a bed, only to be discovered by a tenant who confronted him and tried to stop him from leaving.
The man then pulled out a penknife and scissors from his bag and threatened to hurt the tenant. Police officers later found methamphetamine and drug-related paraphernalia on him.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the offender, Vincent Tony, was unemployed at the time of the incident. The 58-year-old man admitted to two drug-related charges and one charge of criminal intimidation on Aug 26, and was sentenced to two years, six months, and three weeks’ jail.
Court documents revealed that the incident occurred at around 7pm on Jan 8, when the offender entered an unlocked apartment unit along Lorong 16 Geylang and slipped into the bedroom of a 27-year-old male Vietnamese tenant.
At around 7.20pm, the victim returned home from work and noticed that his bedroom door was partially opened and blocked by a table. Through the gap, he saw that the room was in disarray.
He entered the room and took photographs, intending to send them to his roommate to check whether he was the one responsible for leaving the room in that state.
He then discovered the offender hiding under the bed.
Offender threatens victim with penknife and scissors
The victim immediately left the bedroom and contacted a colleague for help. By the time his colleague arrived, the offender had emerged from the bedroom and was attempting to flee.
The victim quickly shut the main door to prevent him from leaving.
Unable to escape, the offender pulled out a penknife from his sling bag and waved it at the victim, threatening to hurt him in an attempt to scare him into opening the door.
When the victim’s colleague arrived at the scene, he managed to wrestle the penknife away from Tony.
However, the offender then brandished a pair of scissors and pointed them at the victim, threatening to harm him again.
The victim and his colleague managed to pry the scissors away, restraining him at the scene. Police arrived after receiving a report and arrested the offender.
The police subsequently found a packet containing a crystalline substance on the offender.
Tests by the Health Sciences Authority confirmed that the substance weighed about 4.41g and contained at least 2.97g of methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice.
The offender admitted that the drugs were for his own consumption.
Police also found a homemade green water pipe and a piece of aluminium foil on him. The offender admitted that both items were used to consume Ice.
‘I was terrified’: Victim shaken by incident
Shin Min visited the unit on the third floor of an old apartment block on the evening of Aug 26.
Mr Nguyen, a 28-year-old construction worker, said he still recalls the incident vividly, though more than six months have passed.
He said he had returned home from work and noticed that his bedroom door was blocked by an object. When he entered the room, he was shocked to find a stranger lying under his bed.
“The whole room was in a mess, and our belongings had been rummaged through. He had even touched our bottles of liquor and cans of alcohol,” he said.
Nguyen said the offender had even approached the window and appeared to consider jumping down to escape, but abandoned the idea after realising that the unit was on the third floor.
‘I will definitely lock the door from now on’
Nguyen, who has been working in Singapore for five years, said he had always believed that Singapore was a safe place and felt it wasn’t necessary to lock the door at home.
He never expected a stranger to simply enter their home.
Although he and his roommate did not lose any belongings in the incident, Nguyen said they now keep their main door locked.
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