Kids who threw bricks from building immune from punishment

JTBC screen capture from security camera footage showing kids throwing bricks.

A two-kilogram brick thrown from the top of a five-story building by children smashed the outdoor condenser of an air-conditioner, and a second one fell right in front of a shopkeeper who came out to see what caused the crashing sound.

The shopkeeper is getting medical treatment for the traumatic experience, but because the children are aged under 10, the police can’t do anything other than write down their personal details, a local broadcaster reported Thursday.

The children were caught by a security camera throwing the bricks in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, in November. The bricks fell in the middle of a road frequented by pedestrians.

The shopkeeper who came out said he looked up to see where the object had come from, and another brick hit the ground about 30 centimeters from him.

He told JTBC that, since the incident, he is often startled even when he hears nothing, and can’t go near mid- to high-rise buildings.

More than two months have passed, but the children’s parents have neither apologized nor paid for the broken condenser.