Vandal changes clothes to avoid detection after spraying graffiti in Buona Vista, gets arrested anyway

A 51-year-old man was arrested for his suspected involvement in two cases of vandalism, including the graffiti on the wall in an underpass outside Buona Vista MRT station.

The police were alerted on Aug 8 to graffiti spray-painted in black at a building located at North Buona Vista Drive and on the walls of an underpass located along North Buona Vista Road.

The graffiti in the underpass included drawings of a syringe, and a hanged man clutching a dollar sign while stuck between the letters W and F.

The message read: “If 1 syringe = 1 death = 1 hanged man HOW MANY 4 U SG GOV?”

The man allegedly changed into another set of attire to avoid detection.

Through ground enquiries and with the aid of police cameras, officers from Clementi Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him on Thursday (Aug 17).

The man was to be charged in court on Saturday with vandalism, which carries a punishment with imprisonment term of up to three years, caning with not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes, and a fine of up to S2,000.

But those above the age of 50 cannot be sentenced to caning.