Four people suspected of vandalizing the Guolin Borough Office in Taoyuan were detained by a local police precinct for questioning on Thursday.
Police said the suspects admitted to damaging the office in retaliation for a “road incident,” but residents alleged that local waste processing firm Yu Hung Technology Co (宇鴻科技) was behind the incident.
Surveillance camera footage shows four men wearing surgical masks and caps getting out of a car in front of the borough office on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the men started smashing office windows, while two others entered and another stood guard outside, the footage shows.
A Guolin resident surnamed Wang (王), who was working in the office, said she heard a loud noise and thought somebody had fired a gun. She turned to find two men with metal rods had charged in and started smashing furniture and computers.
A young man surnamed Hsu (許) said he heard the commotion and rushed to the scene, where one of the intruders told him to “stay away,” and threatened to hurt him if he interfered.
The whole incident took place in just over one minute.
Four suspects were apprehended on Thursday by Dayuan District Precinct (大園) police, who said the men claimed that they trashed the borough office over a “road incident with borough warden Chen Hsi-ta (陳錫達).”
Their alleged confessions were met with disbelief by local residents, who said that surveillance cameras are installed along almost every street and the suspects should specify where any road incident occurred.
Many residents alleged that Yu Hung was behind attack.
Yu Hung’s operations were suspended on Monday by the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection on the orders of Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), and earlier this month Chen also led a large-scale protest against pollution said to be caused by the firm.
A Taoyuan-based environmentalist, who asked to remain anonymous over concern for his safety, said the vandalism happened on the same day on which Yu Hung’s incinerator was completely shut down.
He said that he tracked the license plate of the car the suspects used and found that the vehicle was from a car rental outlet in Miaoli County, adding that the suspects could be working with gangsters in Miaoli.
The Dayuan District Precinct said that it would investigate whether the case is related to Yu Hung.
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