Driver uses truck roof camera to catch colleague who damaged his car

A tanker-truck driver in Keelung tried to explain away the damage to his colleague’s car as saltwater, but camera footage and repair records led to a conviction.

The two men worked as tanker-truck drivers for the same transport company and carried petroleum products for the Keelung Shimen oil supply service center. The victim usually parked his personal car in a lot on Xinwu Road in Qidu District before switching to a tanker for work.

At about 5 a.m. on September 17 last year, the defendant drove past the lot and threw an unidentified corrosive liquid onto the parked vehicle. The liquid damaged multiple areas of the car’s body and metal panels. When the victim finished work at about 1 p.m., he found the car badly disfigured and checked the surveillance camera installed on the roof of a company tanker.

The footage captured the act, prompting the victim to report it to police. During questioning, the defendant initially claimed he had poured only “drinking water with salt” and had not deliberately splashed the car. Prosecutors compared photographs of the damage with bodywork records and car-care receipts, concluding that saltwater could not have caused the extent of the damage.

The defendant admitted the offense during the trial. The court cited the fact that he had damaged another person’s vehicle over an argument and had not reached a settlement with the victim. It sentenced him to 50 days’ detention, with the option of paying a NT$50,000 fine. The ruling can be appealed.