A Hualien County teenager’s naked rampage out has caused headaches for his family and neighbors.
A homeowner’s surveillance camera in a Jian Township (吉安) neighborhood caught the teen jumping on parked cars, splashing paint on vehicles and running around naked.
The youth was quickly identified by local residents, who said they were shocked because he is normally a well-behaved junior-high school student with a reputation of being an academic achiever.
Photo: Wang Chin-yi, Taipei Times
The first incident occurred at about 1am on Thursday last week, when the teen was captured by a surveillance camera climbing on top of parked cars and jumping around on them.
The roofs of three vehicles were dented, but the owners decided not to pursue the matter.
However, on Tuesday morning, residents leaving their homes to head to work were upset to discover four cars splashed with white paint, along with several iron-grate house doors.
A group of neighbors, including a man surnamed Chang (張) gathered to watch footage from a surveillance camera installed by the front door of one home.
As they watched the video showing a naked young man splashing paint, Chang’s face turned red.
“That looks like my son,” he said, before heading home to confront his son.
Chang said that when he found his son, he still had white paint residue on his arms.
Chang said his son is a studious pupil and one of the top students in his class.
“He is a good kid, but quiet. He normally does not say much and is always well-behaved,” Chang said.
“I want him to continue with academic studies at a senior-high school and pursue his chosen field later on, but my son wants to attend a vocational high school to study computer information technology and related subjects. So he and I have disagreed on what he should pursue in school,” said Chang, who is an educator.
Chang and his wife divorced six months ago and he said his son might be unhappy and acting out his frustrations because the teen does not understand the reasons for the divorce.
Chang has apologized to the neighbors affected by the vandalism and promised to compensate them for the damage done to cars and doors. He also promised that his son will receive psychological counseling at school.
One woman whose car was splashed with paint, surnamed Cheng (鄭), said young people who are under pressure or encounter problems should have suitable ways to release their stress.
“Parents must do their part by spending time and talking to their children to understand what they are thinking about. Otherwise, problems will build up, which could lead to bad consequences,” she said.
It might cost Chang “up to about NT$150,000” to fix the four cars because they will need sheet-metal finishing and paint jobs, she said.
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