By Lediati Tan

A MAN strolled into a goldsmith shop in broad daylight and made off with three gold bracelets worth about $24,000 that a customer was viewing.

The staff who was attending to the customer could only watch helplessly as the bracelets disappeared right under her nose.

The daring theft happened on Tuesday just after 5pm at Chin Cheong Goldsmith in Blk 210 Hougang St 21.

A supervisor at the shop, who wanted to be identified only as Miss Lim, 36, told The New Paper that it happened so quickly that she was too stunned to react.

Speaking in Mandarin, she said: 'I was focusing on the customer. It happened so quickly, my mind went blank. I didn't know what to do.'

Mr Richard Lim, 45, a manager at the shop, said he was in the shop together with Miss Lim and another female employee at the time.

A young man was the only customer in the shop and Miss Lim was attending to him.

She said that the customer had brought in two standard 916 gold necklaces worth around $4,000 to trade in for a man's gold bracelet.

He asked specifically to look at gold bracelets and Miss Lim showed him three gold bracelets - the thickest ones they had in the shop. Two were standard 916 gold, and one was pure gold. Each bracelet was worth under $8,000.

The customer was in the shop for about 10 minutes when a young man dressed in a black jacket, white T-shirt, dark-coloured trousers and white track shoes stopped to look at the showcase outside the shop.

The man's face was partially hidden by the brown cap and sunglasses he was wearing.

Said Mr Lim in Mandarin: 'The man then came into the shop, took a brief look at the platinum gold display on the left side of the shop and walked over to look at gold rings which were in the display cabinets right next to where the customer was sitting.'

Before anyone could react, the man reached out with his left hand and snatched the three bracelets from the serving tray in front of Miss Lim and the customer.

He then fled from the shop.

Stunned

Too stunned to react, the staff did not give chase.

Mr Lim said that he saw the thief turn left as he ran out of the shop towards the flower nurseries opposite the shop.

He then hit the emergency alarm and called the police.

The customer, a 22-year-old student who wished to be known only as Mr Tan, told Lianhe Wanbao that he was not aware of the man standing beside him. His mind went blank after the items were snatched.

Miss Lim said: 'I was too shocked to scream.

'We're trained to look out for suspicious characters, but the thief looked like a trendy young person.

'Who would think that it could be someone who just walked in from outside?'

Mr Lim added that the thief was in the shop for less than a minute.

It was the first time such a theft has taken place in the shop since it opened in 1992.

Police arrived about five minutes after the theft and took down statements from the customer and the staff.

The culprit is believed to be in his 20s, short, medium-built with long hair, said a police spokesman.

He was last seen fleeing towards the flower nursery in the direction of Kovan MRT station.

Anyone with information should call the police hotline at 1800 255-0000.

This article was first published in The New Paper.