Clerk punched cabby, spat at cop and exposed himself outside police station
Published on Jan 22, 2013
By Khushwant Singh
A clerk from a law firm was jailed for a month on Tuesday for punching a cabby, spitting on a police officer and exposing himself. Rick Tan Eng Lam, 46, went drinking with friends on Deepavali eve last year and ended the night by getting arrested for assault and disorderly behaviour.
At 6pm on Nov 12, Tan and four friends drank at least 15 bottles of beer in Chinatown on last year. At 10.30pm, he had hailed Mr Lau Kai Hee's to go home to Tampines. Midway through the journey, he asked the 62-year-old cabby for money and demanded to get off.
It is not known why he did this but Mr Lau refused to stop on the expressway. Then while driving on Tampines Avenue 1, Tan suddenly punched Mr Lau's face. The cabby immediately drove to the Tampines Neighbourhood Police Centre to report the incident.
Two police officers took down Tan's particulars. He then walked to the centre of the road in front of the police station and started shouting for no apparent reason. Staff Sergeant Muhammad Faisal Mohd Saleh managed to get him back on the pavement but Tan then proceeded to pull down his pants and underwear.
As the cop tried to stop him, Tan spat on his head. The charge for disorderly behaviour and another for spitting at the cabby were taken into consideration by the judge when passing sentence.
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