Suspect says tried to use cigarette smoke to get rid of flies in a can
A local man in his seventies was arrested on Sunday on charges of arson after dropping a cigarette end, causing a cardboard fire in the northern district and melting a plastic mat used by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to cover the trunk of a nearby tree, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said yesterday.
On Sunday night, the Judiciary Police received a call from the Fire Services Bureau (CB) informing them that a suspected arson case had occurred at a residential building on Avenida da Longevidade (長壽大馬路), where a trolley had been chained to the railings in front of the building where the suspect lives, with a small amount of rubbish and miscellaneous items on it that showed signs of having been damaged by the fire and, at the same time, the blaze had also damaged a plastic mat used to cover the trunk of a tree next to the trolley.
According to yesterday’s press conference, a PJ investigation identified the suspect as a 75-year-old local man, surnamed Sio, who had smoked outside the building at about 10 a.m. on Sunday as usual, since his family members do not allow him to smoke at home.
“Prior to the incident, the suspect smoked as usual at the location where the fire occurred and during that time he saw a can on the trolley which was full of flies and he thought that it was unhygienic so he used cigarette smoke to get rid of the flies but it didn’t work, and then he tried to extinguish the cigarette by stubbing it out on a piece of cardboard, but he didn’t notice if it was still alight, dropped it and then went home,” Chan said, adding that no one was injured in the small blaze.
Regarding any losses caused by the fire, Chan said that the Municipal Affairs Bureau were unable to provide the value of the loss at the time of the press conference, nor have the trolley and cardboard been claimed.
The Judiciary Police (PJ) transferred Sio to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday for further investigation.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man looks on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
