Tiny terror loves to jump up and down on parked cars
Concerned resident takes video of boy jumping on parked cars & files police report
This pre-schooler is a tiny terror. And his antics have repeatedly shocked neighbours, with some wondering why no adult family member is supervising him.
One worried neighbour even went to the extent of filing a police report for the boy's safety.
According to residents, the boy and his younger sister would hang precariously "halfway out" of their third-storey flat kitchen window and throw water on people and stray cats below.
On one occasion, neighbours from the opposite block were so concerned that they yelled at the children, which alerted an adult in the flat who then pulled them in, said one neighbour, Mrs Amy Lee, 75, a retiree.
On other occasions, the boy, sporting a crew cut and wearing the uniform of a childcare centre, was seen jumping up and down on the bonnets and tops of parked cars at the open-air housing estate carpark.
He even helped himself to some tools in the back of a parked lorry after climbing into it.
The neighbour who filed the police report, a 53-year-old housewife who declined to be named, said she tried to stop him.
"I saw the boy playing in the carpark a few times and every time, there was no adult was with him. I'm concerned because it is a carpark and drivers may not see him," she told The New Paper.
But when her attempts to stop him from climbing onto cars and jumping on them fell on deaf ears, she took a video of his antics on March 3.
In the clip, the boy is seen climbing onto a black Volvo and jumping and stomping on the bonnet. He is also seen running towards and climbing into the back of a white pickup, where he helps himself to some tools.
POLICE REPORT
Armed with the video, the neighbour made the police report.
She said: "This is not a place for a kid his age to run around. He might get knocked down or worse - get driven off by a stranger. It's so dangerous."
Police confirmed that a report had been lodged and that the matter had been referred to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
A check with the boy's childcare centre revealed that children under its care are not released without a parent or caregiver present.
A spokesman for the centre said: "Only nominated adults registered with the centre are permitted to pick up the children. They are also required to sign on the centre's attendance register when they do so."
When TNP visited the boy's home on March 4 and informed his father about the neighbours' concerns, he denied there was no adult supervision when his son was playing in the carpark.
"I was there. I had just picked him up from childcare and I was walking him home," he said.
But when asked why he did not stop his son's carpark antics, the man only said "he was punished", before shutting the door.
TNP understands that the boy's father recently suffered a stroke and the mother is now the sole breadwinner, leaving her three children in the care of her mother.
Last Wednesday, TNP approached the boy's grandmother after she had picked him and his sister up from the childcare centre.
She said the boy "is very playful and extremely active".
"There are times he wouldn't even listen to his father," she said, adding that the police and social workers had come to the house to speak to them. "We are now keeping a closer eye on the children."
TNP is not naming anyone in the family to protect the boy's identity.
This is not a place for a kid his age to run around. He might get knocked down or worse - get driven off by a stranger. It's so dangerous.
- The 53-year-old housewife who made the police report
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