Man nabbed after allegedly assaulting Tower Transit staff, spraying fire extinguisher in Yishun
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The police and SCDF received a call for assistance at the address of the Yishun Integrated Transport Hub at about 9.30am on Jan 19.
PHOTO: TOWER TRANSIT/FACEBOOK
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SINGAPORE – A 58-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly assaulted a Tower Transit service staff member in Yishun on Jan 19, leaving her with injuries.
The transport operator, which first shared about the incident in a Facebook post on Jan 20, said that the man had also sprayed commuters with a fire extinguisher.
In response to The Straits Times’ queries, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force said they received a call for assistance at 920 Yishun Avenue 2 at about 9.30am.
This is the address of the Yishun Integrated Transport Hub (ITH), according to Google Maps.
The Tower Transit service ambassador, a 73-year-old woman, was conscious when taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
The man was arrested for being a public nuisance and of unsound mind, the police said, adding that he is also being investigated for voluntarily causing hurt and mischief.
According to Tower Transit’s Facebook post, an interchange supervisor and a bus captain had confronted the man and followed him into Northpoint City.
However, the man continued to spray the fire extinguisher and also threw it at a shopper.
The interchange supervisor, identified as Mr Faisal, had rushed forward to restrain the man before the police arrived to arrest him.
Tower Transit lauded the actions of Mr Faisal and the bus captain, Mr Zaki, in its post.
“We are immensely proud of both IS Faisal and BC Zaki. They acted decisively, putting themselves in danger to protect the community and their colleagues,” it said.
The operator added that this was not the first time that Mr Faisal had displayed such courage.
In December 2022, Mr Faisal had “played a key role” in subduing an individual who was using a fire extinguisher to smash the windscreens of several buses at the Yishun ITH bus park, it said.
A spokesperson for Northpoint City told The Straits Timesthat the mall’s security officers attended to the situation with Yishun ITH staff and the mall is cooperating with the authorities in their investigations.
“The safety and well-being of our shoppers, tenants and staff remain our top priority, and mall operations continue as normal,” the spokesperson said.
Police investigations are ongoing.
