Melbourne teen, 16, with fake emergency truck 'only wanted to help people'
A teenager arrested for driving a fake emergency truck around Melbourne said he genuinely wanted to help people.
The 16-year-old, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, spent more than $100,000 modifying the truck and even responded to crashes.
"I just pretty much bought the truck, had it fitted out with blue and red lights and yeah I just responded to emergencies that I got through the Emergency Management Victoria app and I got there and helped people out,” he told Seven News.
He claims his main aim was to help people and not to impersonate police, fire or ambulance.
Throughout his month on the road the teen responded to a large number of emergencies.
The teen claims he responded to about 30 or 40 accidents.
A high school dropout, the teen said he was able to afford the truck by becoming a very young CEO of an online software company. Financially, he's actually doing quite well.
"I've done quite a few projects with some clients, they've racked in a bit of money so I put the money from that towards this,” he said.
The teen is facing serious charges including reckless conduct endangering the person, which carries a maximum jail term of five years.
He said the outcome of the court process does concern him.
“I understand that, they don't want an unlicensed, untrained driver recklessly speeding through Melbourne,” he said.
“A lot of people also think that I'm untrained when arriving as in, I did do my paramedics course, trained in rescue and medics. I didn't give untrained CPR.”
The teen spoke to Seven News because he wanted to clear up the rumours swirling around online.
He says he never intended to terrorise people he just wanted to help.
