Trio get awards for helping fight crime
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(From left) Firefighter Muhammad Suhanas Abdul Aziz, Grab driver Ong Keng Chor and Wildlife Reserves Singapore employee Elisha Teo with their awards for public spiritedness yesterday.
PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Natalie Tan
Firefighter Muhammad Suhanas Abdul Aziz, 28, was on his way down his HDB block to buy a drink when he saw a middle-aged man forcefully grabbing a young woman's arm on the fourth floor.
He recognised her as she lived in his block, and thought they looked suspicious, but went his own way. After he got his drink, however, he decided to check on the pair.
"I just felt like something wasn't right," he said. He found the pair on the sixth floor, and saw the man touching the woman inappropriately, with his trousers unzipped.
"The woman said to me in Malay, 'this crazy man is touching me'," recalled Mr Suhanas yesterday.
He shouted at the man, who ran away. Mr Suhanas chased him down two storeys, before pinning him down. The man offered Mr Suhanas $1,000 to let him go, but he refused. A neighbour who heard the commotion called the police. The man was arrested and is being investigated by police.
Mr Suhanas was among three individuals who received the Public Spiritedness Award from Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) of Police Marc E at the Clementi Police Division yesterday.
Grab driver Ong Keng Chor, 40, was commended for providing police with information that led to the arrest of three men last September. He saw the trio chasing a few others with what he described as a long, shiny knife, and called the police. The targets ran away while the attackers left the scene in a car. He followed the trio in his car from Pandan Gardens to Tiong Bahru, and updated the police on their location. The police arrested the men, who are facing prosecution.
Also recognised for his public spiritedness was Mr Elisha Teo, 39, who works at Wildlife Reserves Singapore. Last September, he called the police after seeing an unconscious man in a car. The man, a suspected drug offender, was arrested and faces prosecution.
DAC E said: "Criminals (are) more likely deterred if public spiritedness is strong and widespread. The public spiritedness and close partnership with the police displayed by these individuals and organisations are commendable."
