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3 tourist brothers carried knives to confront porridge stall owner, get jail and short detention order
SINGAPORE: On their first sightseeing trip to Singapore, two brothers got into an argument with the owner of a porridge stall in Orchard Plaza.
After lying to their eldest brother that they were attacked, the three brothers armed themselves with knives from a supermarket and returned to the stall for a confrontation.
On Thursday (Dec 5), 25-year-old Albert Max Martinez-Arizala, 21-year-old Alexis Jesus Martinez-Arizala and 18-year-old Alejandro Martinez-Arizala Jr each pleaded guilty to one charge of being armed with a knife.
Albert was sentenced to six weeks' jail, Alexis to four weeks' imprisonment, and Alejandro to a short detention order (SDO) of the maximum 14 days.
An SDO is a community-based sentence that detains an offender in prison. It is supposed to act as a deterrent by allowing an offender to experience prison life but does not leave a criminal record.
All three Americans appeared in the State Courts dressed in suits, with members of their family present.
ARGUMENT AT THE PORRIDGE STALL
The court heard that the brothers arrived in Singapore on Jul 26 and intended to leave for Melbourne three days later.After checking into their hotel, they visited two clubs around midnight. At about 5am on Jul 27, they headed to a third club in Orchard, but realised it was closed when they got there.
Albert went to look for an automated teller machine to withdraw cash and left his two younger brothers at the entrance of the club.
But as he encountered problems withdrawing money and was trying to resolve this with the bank, he ended up being separated from his brothers for about an hour.
During this time, Alexis and Alejandro roamed around the area. Around 6.30am, they found themselves at Tai Heng Teochew Porridge Stall on the first floor of Orchard Plaza.
They approached two women seated at a table at the porridge stall, and Alexis leaned on a moveable partition while speaking to them.
The owner of the porridge stall, Mr Zhang Zhiqiang, noticed this and told Alexis not to lean on the partition as it was dangerous.
Alexis scolded Mr Zhang in return, and the older man responded angrily, asking Alexis what his problem was.
Another man, who identified himself as the boyfriend of one of the two women, asked if Alexis and Alejandro knew his girlfriend. They said no, and that they were trying to get to know the women.
A verbal argument broke out and Alexis gestured for a fight. Alejandro also mimicked his brother and made a similar gesture.
Passers-by tried to calm the situation down, and the two brothers left several minutes later.
ARMED WITH KNIVES AND FRYING PAN
Alexis and Alejandro managed to locate their eldest brother Albert by borrowing a passer-by's phone to contact their mother, who was in the United States.By the time the three brothers reunited, Albert was under the impression that Alexis and Alejandro had been "attacked" by five people for leaning on a partition at a food stall.
Alexis and Alejandro were never attacked at the stall, but lied that they were, Deputy Public Prosecutor Joelle Loy said.
They told Albert they wanted to return to the porridge stall to confront their supposed attackers. Seeing that his brothers were angry, Albert agreed to this.
Youngest brother Alejandro was concerned about being outnumbered, and suggested that they not return to the stall unarmed.
They went to a nearby supermarket and bought three kitchen knives, a frying pan and a bottle of bathroom cleaner for nearly S$130 (US$97). Each knife had an 18cm-long blade.
"YOU FAT ... BELUGA ... WHALE"
The brothers returned to the porridge stall at close to 9am, around two-and-a-half hours after Alexis and Alejandro first left. There were at least nine customers at the stall then.Albert addressed a worker at the porridge stall, demanding to know who had attacked his brothers.
He took out the knife and raised it in a threatening manner, then held up the pan and bathroom cleaner while looking in the worker's direction.
The worker said he did not know, and that the brothers should go away.
Still holding on to the knife, pan and bathroom cleaner, Albert walked to the moveable partition where five customers were seated.
The co-owner of the stall saw that the brothers had weapons with them, and called the police.
Around this time, the knife was in Albert's back pocket, where it ripped a hole in the fabric and dropped to the floor. This made a loud noise that startled customers and the co-owner.
The brothers continued trying to look for Mr Zhang, who had already left. The co-owner tried to explain that Mr Zhang was not there.
Using expletives, Alexis exclaimed at her: "You fat ... Beluga ... whale!" He also insisted that Mr Zhang had hit and pushed him earlier.
The co-owner was offended by this and told Alexis that she was just working at the stall and he need not insult her. Albert told his younger brothers to leave her alone, and they apologised to her.
Albert then tried negotiating for S$300 and then S$200 in compensation for the supposed assault of his younger brothers. The co-owner did not pay him any money.
By this time, Albert had told his younger brothers to leave the stall. Alexis and Alejandro went into Orchard Point shopping mall and threw away the knives and pan in a male toilet.
The police arrived at the porridge stall moments later and managed to locate Alexis and Alejandro in Orchard Point at around 9.20am. They also found and seized the knives and pan.
The brothers were arrested around noon the same day.
ANXIOUS ABOUT BEING OUTNUMBERED
The prosecution argued for all three brothers to serve custodial terms, with the length of time to be determined by the court.Ms Loy said that in cases involving foreign nationals with no family based in Singapore, rehabilitative options like probation were not feasible.
There was also no reason to rehabilitate the offenders as they would be repatriated after their sentences, she said.
She highlighted that the Martinez-Arizala brothers offended brazenly, in a group and in broad daylight, and caused fear with their actions.
They acquired their weapons specifically to confront Mr Zhang, and it was only fortuitous that they were unable to find him, she said.
Defence lawyer A Rajandran initially asked for the brothers to be fined, but later adjusted this to seek custodial terms.
Mr Rajandran said that the brothers were victims of a robbery in Thailand before coming to Singapore. They were outnumbered in that robbery, so they were anxious about being outnumbered at the porridge stall, he said.
But Principal District Judge Toh Han Li said this was irrelevant as the brothers were not robbed in Singapore.
"For what it's worth, these are three young persons who are foreigners in an unknown country, in a strange environment," Mr Rajandran told the court.
He added that Albert, as the eldest, was "protective" of his younger brothers and made a "mistake" in judgment by choosing to confront instead of walking away from the situation.
When the lawyer tried to argue that the brothers did not buy the knives for the sole purpose of confrontation, Judge Toh took issue with this.
The judge said that Alexis and Alejandro had left the porridge stall more than two hours ago and there was "no incident anymore", but they decided to return and the purpose of doing so must be for a confrontation.
In sentencing, Judge Toh said that the brothers premeditated and planned the offence, as they went to the supermarket to buy the knives. They also did not arm themselves in self-defence but for confrontation.
He acknowledged each brother's contribution to the situation – Alejandro suggested they not return to the stall unarmed, Alexis escalated the situation by insulting the co-owner's appearance and insisting Mr Zhang had hit and pushed him, while Albert raised the knife in a threatening manner.
In sentencing the youngest, Alejandro, Judge Toh said that probation was not suitable as he was a foreigner and would not have the family support network in Singapore to complete probation.
The judge also rejected Mr Rajandran's request for Alexis and Alejandro's sentences to take into account the seven days they had spent in remand. He ordered their sentences not to be backdated.
The brothers informed the court they would start serving their sentences on Thursday.
A person who is found armed with a weapon that is likely to cause death, without lawful authority or purpose, can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
