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US expat facing sex charge threatens to jump from Telok Kurau condo
Facing charge of having paid sex with underage girl, Payton Scott Velo, 44, threatened to commit suicide. -TNP
Rennie Whang
Sat, Jun 22, 2013
The New Paper
SINGAPORE - He was due in court on Wednesday for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.
But Mr Payton Scott Velo, 44, spent the wee hours of Wednesday perched on the roof of a five-storey Telok Kurau condominium, stark naked and threatening to commit suicide.
After a stand-off that lasted about five hours, the American was persuaded to come down. He was then arrested by the police.
When 10 men were charged in court yesterday with having commercial sex with the underage prostitute, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stella Tan mentioned that two other men, one of them being Mr Velo, were due to face similar charges.
She said that Mr Velo was not in court because he was warded at the Institute of Mental Health. He allegedly had sex with the minor at a One Tree Hill residence on Feb 19.
A sales director who wanted to be known only as Mr Boey, 47, told The New Paper on Wednesday that he had returned home to the 36-unit condominium close to 11pm on Tuesday.
When he sat at the patio of his unit to catch up on work, he suddenly heard a voice from above swearing at the "(man) under the umbrella".
It was only after a moment that Mr Boey realised the voice he heard was referring to him.
Mr Boey then noticed Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers at the Siglap Park connector, a few metres away from the patio.
"I asked them what was happening and they told me to look up. I saw a man sitting on a ledge. He was quite naked."
Mr Boey said the man shouted to him, "Yeah, I'm talking to you," before unleashing a slew of vulgarities.
44 men charged with hiring underage prostitute
Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: ST, TNP, Wanbao)
For more photos, click here.
SCDF officers told Mr Boey not to antagonise Mr Velo. But he felt that his neighbour was bluffing.
Mr Boey said: "He would say he was jumping on three, but he counted "one, two" before stopping to say, 'Why aren't you coming to get me?'"
SCDF officers entered Mr Boey's unit to see if they could set up an inflatable mattress to cushion the man if he jumped. Mr Boey turned on the floodlights and Mr Velo got angry and started cursing him again.
"I didn't give two hoots because I knew he wasn't in any proper frame of mind," Mr Boey said.
He quickly turned off the floodlights, and the SCDF officers assessed that it was likely to be Mr Boey's neighbour whose patio and pool would be affected if Mr Velo fell.
He went to his neighbour's unit, but he didn't respond to knocks on the door and the doorbell. Mr Boey then put his mouth to the door and shouted his neighbour's name.
"The man got agitated and asked me why I was calling someone and told me not to talk to anybody," he said.
Other neighbours said Mr Velo has a Japanese wife in her 30s or 40s and a daughter who is about two years old. Mother and daughter were often seen playing in the swimming pool after the family moved into the two-year-old condo less than two months ago.
A 34-year-old businessman, who declined to be named, said: "Police were trying to say 'think of your family, your wife is supporting you, your kids are young'.
He just said he wanted to talk to someone called Leon."
He said his young son wandered out to the patio and Mr Velo shouted at him: "Are you scared?"
The businessman said that when he saw a naked man right above his unit, he got the shock of his life.
"If he was going to jump into my unit, I would do all I could to make sure he didn't harm my family. I thought he might have lost his job. I didn't know he had the court case."
Mattress
Mr Boey's neighbour, who gave his name only as Michael, 46, said SCDF officers wanted to put a inflatable mattress at his patio but realised that it was not possible.
After about two hours of listening to Mr Velo negotiate with the police, the managing director at a German firm said he went to bed.
"Our bedroom is close to where he was sitting on the roof. I couldn't hear the negotiators but I could hear him.
"He didn't make any sense. He was just swearing at them, telling them to **** off."
An SCDF spokesman said it received a call at 11.06pm and sent an ambulance, a fire engine, a Red Rhino and a support vehicle to the scene. The Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) was also activated,
They assisted the police and Mr Velo was eventually coaxed to safety. He was found to have no injuries.
A police spokesman said Mr Velo was arrested for attempted suicide and investigations are ongoing.
[email protected]
Get The New Paper for more stories.
US expat facing sex charge threatens to jump from Telok Kurau condo
Facing charge of having paid sex with underage girl, Payton Scott Velo, 44, threatened to commit suicide. -TNP
Rennie Whang
Sat, Jun 22, 2013
The New Paper
SINGAPORE - He was due in court on Wednesday for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.
But Mr Payton Scott Velo, 44, spent the wee hours of Wednesday perched on the roof of a five-storey Telok Kurau condominium, stark naked and threatening to commit suicide.
After a stand-off that lasted about five hours, the American was persuaded to come down. He was then arrested by the police.
When 10 men were charged in court yesterday with having commercial sex with the underage prostitute, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stella Tan mentioned that two other men, one of them being Mr Velo, were due to face similar charges.
She said that Mr Velo was not in court because he was warded at the Institute of Mental Health. He allegedly had sex with the minor at a One Tree Hill residence on Feb 19.
A sales director who wanted to be known only as Mr Boey, 47, told The New Paper on Wednesday that he had returned home to the 36-unit condominium close to 11pm on Tuesday.
When he sat at the patio of his unit to catch up on work, he suddenly heard a voice from above swearing at the "(man) under the umbrella".
It was only after a moment that Mr Boey realised the voice he heard was referring to him.
Mr Boey then noticed Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers at the Siglap Park connector, a few metres away from the patio.
"I asked them what was happening and they told me to look up. I saw a man sitting on a ledge. He was quite naked."
Mr Boey said the man shouted to him, "Yeah, I'm talking to you," before unleashing a slew of vulgarities.
44 men charged with hiring underage prostitute
Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: ST, TNP, Wanbao)
For more photos, click here.
SCDF officers told Mr Boey not to antagonise Mr Velo. But he felt that his neighbour was bluffing.
Mr Boey said: "He would say he was jumping on three, but he counted "one, two" before stopping to say, 'Why aren't you coming to get me?'"
SCDF officers entered Mr Boey's unit to see if they could set up an inflatable mattress to cushion the man if he jumped. Mr Boey turned on the floodlights and Mr Velo got angry and started cursing him again.
"I didn't give two hoots because I knew he wasn't in any proper frame of mind," Mr Boey said.
He quickly turned off the floodlights, and the SCDF officers assessed that it was likely to be Mr Boey's neighbour whose patio and pool would be affected if Mr Velo fell.
He went to his neighbour's unit, but he didn't respond to knocks on the door and the doorbell. Mr Boey then put his mouth to the door and shouted his neighbour's name.
"The man got agitated and asked me why I was calling someone and told me not to talk to anybody," he said.
Other neighbours said Mr Velo has a Japanese wife in her 30s or 40s and a daughter who is about two years old. Mother and daughter were often seen playing in the swimming pool after the family moved into the two-year-old condo less than two months ago.
A 34-year-old businessman, who declined to be named, said: "Police were trying to say 'think of your family, your wife is supporting you, your kids are young'.
He just said he wanted to talk to someone called Leon."
He said his young son wandered out to the patio and Mr Velo shouted at him: "Are you scared?"
The businessman said that when he saw a naked man right above his unit, he got the shock of his life.
"If he was going to jump into my unit, I would do all I could to make sure he didn't harm my family. I thought he might have lost his job. I didn't know he had the court case."
Mattress
Mr Boey's neighbour, who gave his name only as Michael, 46, said SCDF officers wanted to put a inflatable mattress at his patio but realised that it was not possible.
After about two hours of listening to Mr Velo negotiate with the police, the managing director at a German firm said he went to bed.
"Our bedroom is close to where he was sitting on the roof. I couldn't hear the negotiators but I could hear him.
"He didn't make any sense. He was just swearing at them, telling them to **** off."
An SCDF spokesman said it received a call at 11.06pm and sent an ambulance, a fire engine, a Red Rhino and a support vehicle to the scene. The Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) was also activated,
They assisted the police and Mr Velo was eventually coaxed to safety. He was found to have no injuries.
A police spokesman said Mr Velo was arrested for attempted suicide and investigations are ongoing.
[email protected]
Get The New Paper for more stories.
if he dares!
