$340,000 worth of damage for $100 helmet
By Amanda Yong
March 19, 2009
THE idea was to steal a motorcycle helmet.
BURNT: Several owners were seen salvaging whatever they could from an early morning blaze that engulfed 52 motorcycles at a multi-storey carpark in Bukit Panjang. PICTURE: STRAITS TIMES
But a teenager ended up setting a fire so huge that it torched 52 motorcycles and two cars that were parked at the second floor of a multi-storey carpark.
For the price of a helmet - worth $100 - he inflicted damages worth about $340,000, including $30,000 that was spent repairing the carpark.
S Sean Kriskumar, 18, pleaded guilty last Wednesday to committing a rash act that threatened the personal safety of others.
Sean and his friend, also 18, were having tea at the 24-hour coffee shop on the ground floor of Blk 163A, Gangsa Road at around 2am on 7 Oct last year.
Sean suggested that they head for supper in Johor Baru and that they take his motorcycle. His friend agreed.
But Sean had only one helmet with him. That was when they decided to nick one from the multi-storey carpark above the coffee shop.
At the second floor, he spotted a black helmet which was secured to the side of a motorcycle with a strap.
He tried to remove the helmet while his friend stood at the driveway and acted as a lookout.
When Sean realised that he did not have a cutting tool with him to cut the strap, he whipped out his cigarette lighter and used it to burn the strap.
After about five minutes, he managed to burn through the strap. He then removed the helmet from the motorcycle.
The two then hopped onto Sean's motorcycle and made a hasty getaway. Sean's friend wore the stolen helmet.
What they did not realise was that the remaining strap on the motorcycle was still burning.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ramu Miyapan said the fire 'eventually escalated and caused the whole stretch of parked motorcycles to be totally burnt'.
He added that the fire then spread to the two cars which were parked at the area.
Court papers showed that the police received several calls about the fire. One of the callers, identified only as Mr Ong, said: 'Motor burning. Burning. Faster.'
Firefighters from the Singapore Civil Defence Force found the entire deck 'heavily smoke-logged' when they arrived at the scene.
They put out the fire in 15 minutes.
Burnt beyond recognition
By then, most of the motorcycles had been burnt to their frames and barely recognisable.
Sean was arrested on 6 Nov last year and charged.
District Court Judge Roy Neighbour called for two pre-sentence reports - a probation report and a Reformative Training Centre (RTC) report - to assess his suitability for probation.
One charge of theft will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on 1 Apr. Meanwhile, he is being held at the RTC.
For committing a rash act which endangers life or the personal safety of others, he can be jailed six months and fined $2,500.
His friend has also been arrested and will be dealt with separately.
Source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...96207,00.html? 
Connect with Facebook
TOTW/F/M Award(s): 6
$340,000 worth of damage for $100 helmet 
Re: $340,000 worth of damage for $100 helmet 
Linear Mode
