12-year-old boy steals bus, allegedly goes on 100km joyride for 5 hours

After stealing a bus in Tampines on Wednesday (April 12), a 12-year-old boy allegedly drove it around for five hours.

He had covered a distance of 100 kilometres while using a quarter tank of diesel, according to a social media post shared on the same day.

The boy had damaged the bus belonging to private bus charter company A&S Transit, the caption stated. "He abandoned it while being chased by police officers."

It was also posted that this boy drove the bus around Tampines, Punggol and Pasir Ris. 

An Instagram photo showed the boy smiling sheepishly at police officers under a HDB block.

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Responding to AsiaOne's queries on Thursday (April 13), the police said that they were alerted to a case of theft of a motor vehicle along Tampines Avenue 10.

A boy is assisting with investigations in relation to the case, the police added.

In the comments, several bus enthusiasts here expressed their shock at the brazen act.

"The audacity of this boy is out of this world," one of them said. "He doesn't care about the safety of others."

Other bus enthusiasts joked that A&S Transit, which previously made headlines for employing young bus captains under 30, might have inspired the boy to commit his "bus-jacking".

But one netizen said that it's not the bus company's fault for having a "fan base".

"We should be grateful to have a company that interacts with the bus community," he said.

We do not wish for 'undue stress' on boy: Bus company

In a Facebook post shared on Thursday (April 13), A&S Transit said that they are aware of public concern about their stolen bus.

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As the issue involves a minor, the company said that "we do not wish for any undue stress on the person, taking into consideration that it is approaching the school examinations period". 

"A&S hopes for all of us to take a gracious and forgiving approach in guiding our youths and supporting them in the pursuit of their passion," it added. 

"It has been A&S's belief that youth must be supported and guided in their passion, be it in buses or anything else."

It said that while they do not condone the action of the minor, they "hope to support the person and any youth in guiding them to express their passion in healthy ways". 

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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