Monday, Oct 22, 2012
AsiaOne
Caught on camera: 4 cars damaged in Clementi hit-and-run
By Angelina Dass
SINGAPORE - A couple was caught on camera hitting a car at midnight on Saturday, Oct 20, before they drove off without taking any further action.
The footage, which was uploaded onto YouTube, showed just one car being damaged in the accident. However, the owner of the car said that four cars in total were damaged.
Speaking to AsiaOne, 34-year-old Mike Koh said that his BMW 3-series and his Honda Civic together with a Honda CR-V and a BMW X1 were damaged. The alleged culprits were caught in action via an in-car camera installed in the BMW 3-series.
After posting the video on YouTube on Saturday, Mr Koh urged witnesses to step forward to help with investigations. He added that he filed a report with the traffic police on Monday.
Police confirmed the report and added that investigations are ongoing. The spokesperson said that when officers reached the scene on Saturday, they concluded that a car had collided into four other stationary cars.
Mr John Ng, the owner of the BMW X1, believes that the car, which looks like a Subaru Impreza, had crashed into the 3-series, which created a domino effect resulting in the rest being damaged too.
The incident happened at Block 347, Clementi Ave 5.
Mr Koh, who is a sales executive, said that he and his wife were in the kitchen of their ninth storey flat at Block 348 when they heard a loud bang. Following which, they heard car alarms going off.
Koh's first thought was that the alarm sounded "very familiar" and that it could belong to one of his cars. The couple hurried downstairs where they saw their BMW in a slanted position.
Neighbours who managed to catch a glimpse of the fleeing Impreza told the pair that they had seen a car fleeing from the scene. Mr Koh confirmed their accounts through the video footage.
In the video, a woman gets out of the driver's seat after the crash and looks to be assessing the situation.
She talks to another person who, at first, cannot be seen on camera. A man is then seen getting into the driver's seat and moves the Impreza forward, as the woman is seen pacing back and forth.
The man then gets out of the car, picks up an object off the ground and places it in his car. The woman gets back into the car while he seems to check if there is anyone around.
At that point in time, a Mercedes taxi appears on camera and drives past the incident. Once the taxi leaves, the couple drives off.
About 12 seconds later, a woman is seen walking past the accident site. She surveys the car and walks a bit further to look out at the leaving Impreza.
She then walks back out of the frame.
Mr Ng, who was informed of the accident by his neighbour at 1am, said: "I really want to know who the person was who hit my car".
The 35-year-old finance manager said he has to pay about $10,000 to repair his car. Mr Koh said he expects he has to fork out about $20,000 to fix his.
Mr Koh told AsiaOne that he now has a phobia and resorts to checking on his car every night before he goes to bed.
