"It Just Started by Chance"... Man in His 60s Stole Scooter Key, Threatened Officials

A man in his 60s who denied stealing someone else’s electric scooter key, claiming the scooter had started by chance when he tried his own motorcycle key, was sentenced to prison.

Park Dongwook, presiding judge of the Chuncheon District Court’s Criminal Division 3, said on Oct. 31 that he had sentenced A, 68, to one year and six months in prison on charges of theft, special obstruction of official duties, property damage and trespassing into a building.

A was sent to trial on suspicion of stealing a key left in an electric scooter parked on a road in front of a restaurant in Chuncheon in August.

That same month, when city hall officials arrived in response to a report of illegal burning while he was setting a fire on a road, he threatened them by brandishing a broken broom and a sickle. He was also accused of breaking the glass in the entrance door to a building’s storage room, unlocking it and entering the premises.

At trial, A denied stealing the electric scooter key. He claimed that the key he had was for a motorcycle he owned and that the electric scooter had started by chance.

However, the court rejected his claim. Judge Park ruled, “Given the function and characteristics of the key, it is difficult to readily accept that the scooter could have started with a key that did not belong to the victim’s electric scooter.”

The court also considered A’s prior criminal record and how soon he reoffended. It explained, “We took into account that he had been punished for crimes several times and committed this offense less than a month after being released from prison, where he had served a sentence for a violent crime.”

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