An 18-year-old boy entered a guilty plea on Tuesday, April 8, to several charges, including theft, breaking and entering, and causing serious injury to others through negligence.
The offender, now 19 years, had stolen four cars and took them for rides while he was out on bail after committing other offences, including injuring two pedestrians while riding an electric bicycle and stealing a toy car.
Since he was under 18 when he committed several of his offenses, he cannot be named.
In March 2023, he was 17 years old when he carelessly rode an e-bike and collided with two people in Sengkang, breaking their bones.
On July 26, 2023, he broke over a fence on Sims Avenue, went inside a store, and took a about $3,000 radio-controlled toy car. Then he played with it on a Geylang Road.
Later, as he was looking through Instagram, he noticed that the shop's owner had shared CCTV footage of the adolescent.
Fearing that he might be caught, the boy returned the toy vehicle to the store at roughly 3.30 am the following day.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicole Teo said, as quoted The Straits Times, that the youth "also left behind a note for the shop owner, apologising for stealing the toy car... (and) asked for the matter to be settled privately".
"(The teenager) also left a contact number, but had intentionally changed the last two digits so that the shop owner would not be able to actually call him," she added, reported The Straits Times.
Later, it was discovered that the toy automobile was broken and required repairs, which came to almost $960.
The young man was eventually apprehended and released on bail after he stole four vehicles—two Hondas, a BMW, and a Porsche—that he discovered in Kim Chuan Drive on different days in July 2024. He discovered that some of them had their keys inside and were unlocked.
Despite lacking a driver's license, he operated the vehicles and twice even drove a friend home.
Three of the vehicles were brought back to Kim Chuan Drive by him. When he was unable to restart the fourth car on Defu Lane, he abandoned it.
In order to determine whether the minor was eligible for probation and reformative training, the court requested reports on April 8.
Young offenders who have been sentenced to participate in reformative training are housed in a facility and subjected to a rigorous program that may involve counseling and foot workouts.
He will be sentenced in May 2025.
