'Fire Extinguisher Terror' in Apartment Underground Parking... Suspects Found to Be Juvenile Offenders

Fire Extinguisher Discharged Causing Damage to Dozens of Vehicles
Perpetrator Filmed the Scene While Watching
"Cannot Be Criminally Charged Due to Juvenile Law"

Middle school students who indiscriminately sprayed fire extinguisher powder on parked cars in an underground parking lot of an apartment in Incheon were caught by the police.

On the 17th, Namdong Police Station in Incheon announced that they are investigating 11 teenagers, including A (13), on charges of property damage. Among them, A and three others are accused of spraying fire extinguisher powder on 25 cars in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Namdong-gu, Incheon, at around 2:30 a.m. on the 13th. During the incident, A ran around spraying fire extinguisher powder on parked cars, while the other three either filmed the act with their mobile phones or watched the scene.

[Image source=SBS news screen]

According to the investigation, the group is believed to have repeated similar acts three times recently, including this case. Six of A's friends also sprayed fire extinguisher powder on 12 cars in the same apartment's underground parking lot at around 11:10 p.m. on the 28th of last month. On the 6th, at around 12:20 a.m., two of them, including A, sprayed fire extinguisher powder on four cars in the underground parking lot of another nearby apartment.

However, all of them are criminal minors under the age of 14, currently in the second year of middle school. Therefore, they are not held criminally responsible even if they commit a crime. Under the Juvenile Act, they are classified as "chokbeopsonyeon" (juveniles aged 10 to under 14 who commit offenses), and if sent to the juvenile division of the court, they may receive protective measures ranging from custodial care, community service orders, probation, to placement in juvenile detention centers, numbered from 1 to 10.

The police plan to summon A and others soon to investigate the details of the case and then send them to the juvenile division of the Incheon Family Court. A police official said, "We will investigate those who actually committed the acts among the 11 and then send them to the juvenile division of the court," adding, "Since they are chokbeopsonyeon, they cannot be criminally charged."