SINGAPORE - A would-be robber hoped to walk away from a Bedok pawnshop with handfuls of gold jewellery on Friday afternoon (July 12) - but ended up fleeing empty-handed after his chopper broke when he tried to smash open a glass display case.

Employees said the masked man entered ValueMax at Block 213 Bedok North Street 1 brandishing the blade, then swung it on the glass counter.

Although the thick glass counter cracked slightly, it did not break - unlike his weapon which snapped into two pieces.

After picking the pieces up, the culprit fled without having taken anything.

Police are investigating the incident after being alerted just before 2pm.

An employee at the shop, Mr Choo Yong Chang, 66, said he believed the culprit was in his 40s.

The Straits Times visited the shop at around 4pm when business appeared to have returned to normal, although a piece of masking tape covered the cracked display case.

Mr Choo told reporters that while the shop was insured, the staff there were afraid the man would hack at them with the weapon.

Related Story Police arrest man who threatened to blow up pawnshop after failed robbery attempt

In August last year, a ValueMax pawn shop near Boon Lay MRT station also survived a robbery attempt when Bangladeshi national Sheikh Md Razan, 29, threw an object on the shop's counter, falsely claiming it was a bomb.

He also failed to steal anything and was arrested five days later.

He was later charged with attempted armed robbery.