Taxi passenger evades fare, assaults cabby in Tanjong Pagar; police investigating

Mr Ng posted several photos and videos of the two men on Facebook, including a video showing how he was shoved to the ground by one of them. PHOTOS: FACEBOOK / LANCE NG

SINGAPORE - The police are investigating a case of voluntarily causing hurt after a cabby was assaulted by his passenger in Tanjong Pagar in the wee hours of Sunday (Feb 4).

Taxi driver Lance Ng took to Facebook to describe his encounter with two Caucasian men, whom he had picked up at Raffles City Shopping Centre in North Bridge Road on Sunday at about 2.15am.

During the trip to Lim Teck Kim Road, one of the passengers suddenly wound down the window and began vomiting, causing a mess in the vehicle, he claimed.

When he asked if he could take them to a petrol kiosk to clean up the mess, they refused and used some of his wet tissues to wipe the car, though it remained dirty.

Later, when they arrived at their destination, the two men alighted from the taxi without paying their fare, which Mr Ng said was less than $10.

He called the police and trailed the duo as they began to walk away.

Mr Ng posted several photos and videos of the two men on Facebook, including a video showing how he was shoved to the ground by one of them.

In the video, the passenger also denied that he had evaded the taxi fare. They then tried to board another taxi but were stopped, according to Mr Ng.

He added that he called the police five times during the 20 minutes that he was following the men, and they later entered The Pinnacle @ Duxton.

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the police clarified in a statement that its officers had arrived at Lim Teck Kim Road within 13 minutes, but Mr Ng was not at the location, as he had left to trail the passenger.

"The officers then searched for the taxi driver based on the updated locations he had subsequently provided, before eventually locating him back at Lim Teck Kim Road," a police spokesman said.

Investigations are ongoing.

In their statement, the police added that they will not tolerate any form of abuse against public transport providers, and will take stern action against those who disregard the law.

Anyone convicted of voluntarily causing hurt may face up to two years' jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

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