Youths arrested for trespassing Tampines store believed to be inspired by viral ‘24-hour challenge’: Ikea

SINGAPORE — The five teenagers who were arrested for allegedly trespassing at Ikea Tampines early Sunday morning were believed to have been inspired by a 24-hour challenge on social media, the Swedish furniture company told TODAY on Monday (April 1).

The youths — aged between 16 and 18 — were found hiding in the building after the store had closed at 11pm the previous night.

An Ikea spokesperson told TODAY that the youths “did not damage property or make an attempt to steal from our store”.

“We do not believe they intended to harm Ikea. We believe this (is a) case of trespass inspired by a 24-hour challenge on social media,” said the spokesperson, who nevertheless added that the store will be stepping up security to ensure that there are no copy-cat repeats of the incident.

The challenge the spokesperson was referring to calls on participants to reach a location or venue before it closes for the evening and trespass on the property by creating a fort. It is known to have been started by two teenagers in Belgium who had hid in an Ikea store there.

The group of five teenagers were believed to have hidden during Ikea Tampines’ 11pm closing time, and had not been “spotted during the night-time round by (Ikea’s) duty manager and security,” the spokesperson said.

“Our store spans 36,000 square metres and the kids involved managed to hide from our security guards and CCTV cameras at the time of closing,” he added.

Ikea also plans to “write to the police investigative branch to ask for leniency” on behalf of the teenagers.

“These kids made a serious mistake that posed a risk to their own safety and we take it seriously but we also have a company culture that allows people to make mistakes — as long as we learn from them,” said the spokesperson.

He added: “We know that Ikea feels like home and many people come to Ikea to have a great day out — but unsanctioned sleepovers are simply not safe, given the warehouse operations and heavy equipment in our building. The safety of people in our store is our top priority.”