41-year-old man arrested for peeing on escalator handrail at Outram Park MRT Station
A 41-year-old man has been arrested for public nuisance after he was seen urinating on the handrail of an escalator at Outram Park MRT Station on Jan 10.
Facebook user Stella Kee shared a Facebook post on behalf of her friend who witnessed what happened.
The friend said they witnessed the 'disturbing incident' near Exit 3 of the station at about 10.03pm.
"A guy walked up to and started urinating on the handrail of the escalator," the post said.
"He stood there for an extended period of time."
The post included a three-second video of a man in a black T-shirt and grey pants standing near the escalator's handrail.
One of the witnesses then reportedly rushed to the nearest passenger service counter located near Exits 7 and 8 to report the issue but was told that SMRT was not responsible for Exit 3 which apparently falls under SBS Transit's (SBST) jurisdiction.
Outram Park MRT station is an interchange on the East-West Line, North East Line (NEL) and Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).
"They could only help to inform SBS Transit about the incident," the post said.
The other witness stayed put and was about to confront the man who quickly left the area using a lift after noticing he was being watched.
"Upon closer inspection, the entire handrail of the escalator was contaminated by his urine," the witness said.
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a report was lodged and subsequently identified the 41-year-old man.
"Given the egregious nature of the act, the man was arrested for public nuisance," a police spokesperson said.
Investigations are ongoing.
In a statement, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) condemned the man's actions, describing them as "unacceptable".
"After receiving news of the incident, staff from SMRT and SBST worked together to handle the case," LTA said.
"SBST staff promptly arranged for the affected area to be cleaned and lodged a police report.
"With the support of SBST, SMRT and LTA, the offender was quickly identified and has since been arrested."
LTA also addressed how the witness who spoke to SMRT staff at the TEL station wanted them to use their CCTV system to identify the culprit.
"SMRT staff explained that the CCTV at NEL Exit 3 where the incident occurred belonged to SBST, who is the operator for NEL, and they could not access this CCTV from the TEL Passenger Service Centre," the authority said.
"This was why SMRT immediately alerted SBST to check their CCTV for NEL Exit 3, and the footage enabled the police to quickly identify and arrest the offender.
"This was a good example of how our staff on the ground worked together as a team to jointly handle such incidents."
LTA added that it and the transport operators strongly condemn such anti-social behaviour, which not only defaces public spaces but also poses health and sanitation concerns for commuters.
"Such actions are unacceptable, and LTA will work with Police to push for the maximum possible penalty to be taken against the culprit," the statement said.
"We thank the member of public for alerting us on this issue."
