Customer dissatisfied with real estate brokerage fee shoots BB gun through car window

[Financial News] A man who shot a BB gun at a real estate agency office due to a conflict over brokerage fees has been sentenced to probation.
According to the legal community on the 17th, the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 1 (Judge Park Ji-won) sentenced Mr. A (42), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business and property damage, to six months in prison with two years probation and ordered 80 hours of community service.
Mr. A was brought to trial for firing a BB gun from a car window on the road in front of the real estate office operated by victim Mr. B in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on two occasions on April 22 and 28, 2022. Mr. A, a customer of the office, reportedly decided to commit the crime due to a conflict over brokerage fees during the apartment purchase process.
During the first incident, Mr. A fired the BB gun once at the office from about 30 meters away, and during the second incident, he fired the gun in the same manner from about 12 meters away. At the time, Mr. B was not in the office, but an employee informed him that Mr. A had fired a toy gun. The court judged that the act of firing a toy gun posed a sufficient risk of obstructing the office's operations.
On the other hand, the court concluded that there was insufficient evidence for the property damage charge, ruling not guilty. It was deemed difficult to acknowledge that the BB pellets damaged the window tinting based on the testimonies of the victim and employee, the firing distance, and the gun's range.
The court stated, "Mr. A had previously harassed the victim by spraying paint on the office's exterior wall or filing complaints and made no effort to recover the damages," but also noted "considering it was his first offense" as the reason for sentencing.

425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han Reporter