S'porean man, 30, tries to start car like 'Ghost Rider', burns Mercedes-Benz in Yishun car park

A Singaporean man who forgot his car keys decided to try another way to start his Mercedes-Benz instead.

He was inspired by what he had seen "work" in the Ghost Rider movie — lighting the whole car on fire.

Did not have car key fob, was inspired by "Ghost Rider"

According to court documents, Sivakandesh, 30, parked his green Mercedes-Benz car at a Yishun condominium car park at around 7am on Jan. 21, 2023.

Proclaiming to be a "self-taught driver", he didn't have a licence.

When he returned to his car at around 5:38pm, Sivakandesh realised he didn't have the car key fob, and the car wouldn't start.

That's when he decided to imitate "Ghost Rider".

To "light up" his car, Sivakandesh used lighters to ignite the ignition switch button.

At first, the plastic around the ignition button started to meld followed by the dashboard.

The fire then began to spread at the top right-hand corner of the driver’s seating area, churning black smoke.

Refused help to stop fire because he believed car would start

Passersby, who noticed the smoke and flames coming from the driver's door, approached Sivakandesh and offered to help extinguish the fire.

He rejected their help — twice — as he had believed that the car would start.

He admitted that he also saw a lot of people starting to run about in the car park.

But as the fire continued to spread across the driver's seat, he claimed he then fled the scene as he did not know what to do.

A group of passersby and the condominium's security managed to put out the fire using eight fire extinguishers and the water sprinkler system directly above the car.

Police arrived at the scene around 5:50pm after a report was made by another resident.

The dashboard compartment and other parts of the car sustained multiple heat, smoke and water damage.

There were no reported casualties or other damaged properties.

Had taken car keys from friend

Police identified Sivakandesh's location through closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and arrested him in a unit at the condominium at around 9:30pm.

Multiple items were seized during the arrest, including a karambit knife, stun device, pepper sprays, and two ziplock bags containing crystalline substances and exhibits believed to be used for drug-taking.

He was then sent to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for drug investigations and later confessed to taking methamphetamine.

Further investigations revealed that Sivakandesh had driven the Mercedes car on Jan. 3, 2023, after he took its keys from his friend, who had rented it.

He later got into an accident on the same day on the Central Expressway towards Seletar Expressway involving two other vehicles.

Sentence and other charges

Sivakandesh faced a total of 19 charges, including mischief by fire, possessing offensive weapons, as well as drug-related and road traffic-related offences.

He was sentenced to three years, seven months and eights weeks in jail after pleading guilty to nine of the charges, with the rest taken into consideration.

He was also given a S$4,800 fine, nine strokes of the cane and a two-year driving license ban.

Top photo via court documents