'Spider-Man' hanging on 11th floor window ledge puts Yishun residents on edge

When a renovation contractor showed up at his doorstep requesting for payment on Wednesday (Aug 31) morning, this flat owner not only locked the door but took a rather drastic step of climbing out of his window and sitting on the ledge – some 11 floors above the ground. 

During a three-hour stand-off that frightened and confused residents living around Block 465A at Yishun Avenue 6, the man was spotted drinking from a bottle of alcohol with his feet dangling precariously on the window of his 11th floor unit. 

The man, dressed in only a pair of shorts, was also seen climbing out while holding on to the window pane ala Spider-Man, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

In an interview with the Chinese Daily, a renovation contractor shared that he had arranged with the homeowner to drop by at 7am to collect a renovation fee of $2,000.

Describing his shock at seeing the man causing a ruckus at his own home, the renovation contractor said: "I have no idea why he did that, but he was arrested by the police after that."

In a response to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) shared that they received a call for assistance at about 7.30am on Wednesday.

SCDF officers deployed a safety life air pack and rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team were on standby as a precautionary measure, the SCDF added.

Officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit and Special Operations Command were also deployed to the scene, the police told AsiaOne, while adding that it was assessed that the man might pose a danger to himself.

The man, who was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital after reporting a pain on his hip, was arrested for suspected drug-related offences, the police said.

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"Investigations by the Central Narcotics Bureau are ongoing."

In past incidents of people standing dangerously on window ledges, a maid was seen cleaning the windows outside the fifth floor of a Tampines HDB flat in March.

After a video of the incident was shared on social media, netizens expressed their concerns that the maid was working in an unsafe manner.

And in August last year, an elderly woman was seen perched on a ledge outside her kitchen of her Jurong flat. Thankfully, no injuries were reported from the incident.

chingshijie@asiaone.com