SINGAPORE — Warren Vicente Canabe was jogging around a Sengkang condominium one day when he noticed that many residents left their footwear outside their homes.

He then hatched a plan to steal footwear to sell for profit, either through e-marketplace Carousell or by taking them back to his home in the Philippines.

He disguised himself by wearing sunglasses and a cap, and carried a haversack to put the shoes in. When the authorities searched his home, they found 122 pairs of shoes — from brands such as Nike, Adidas and Reebok — that he could not account for.

On Monday (Nov 4), the 41-year-old Filipino was sentenced to one year, one month and two weeks’ jail.

He pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including theft and housebreaking to commit theft, with another 20 similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing. He had committed his offences within about three weeks.

The court heard that he devised his plan to steal the shoes in July this year, while jogging around La Fiesta Condominium. It was not stated if he lived there.

He stole shoes from shoe racks or cabinets outside homes about three to four times a week, but sometimes stole other items too.

He first struck on July 7, when he stole a pair of purple Adidas slippers worth S$35.

On July 16, he stole at least seven times, including:

• Two storage boxes

• A floor mat

• Three clothes pegs

• A pair of S$300 Timberland boots

• A pair of Nike Air Max running shoes worth S$320

• A black T-shirt

The next day, he also stole a S$70 kick scooter that the owner had left along the common corridor outside her flat.

On July 30, he was walking around Compassvale Drive in search of shoes to steal when he noticed a MacBook Pro laptop on a table, next to a sliding window by the common corridor. The owner had left the window open.

Canabe stretched his arm into the room, pulled the tablecloth towards him and stole the laptop, which was valued at S$2,505.

He took it home, reset it to factory settings and secured it with his own password. The owner discovered the theft later that night and filed a police report.

The police searched Canabe’s home the next morning and found the 122 pairs of shoes.

“The said 122 pairs of shoes were reasonably suspected of being stolen and the accused failed to account satisfactorily as to how he came by them,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Etsuko Lim said.

For housebreaking to commit theft, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years. For theft, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined or both.