The Electric New Paper, Singapore - The Electric New Paper News
WAS it the Singapore-registered flashy cars? Or were the harassing, the high-speed chase, the beating and robbery a flash, unplanned by thugs in a Mercedes?
The flash was the fleet of Singapore-registered Ferraris and Maseratis out for a fun drive up to Genting Highlands. Taking part were about 20 members of the Ferrari Club.
But despite safety measures such as keeping together and communicating with walkie-talkies, it turned out to be a trip filled with the terror of high-speed car chases, three attempted robberies capped by a brutal beating of one Ferrari car owner.
The incident happened on Friday afternoon on the North-South Highway between Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.
The Ferrari Club convoy, which included some Maserati drivers, had left Singapore on Friday morning at about 10am, according to its motorsports director Chia Boon Teck, who was part of the group.
The fleet of about 20 cars was led by the president of Ferrari Club's Singapore chapter, Dr Ben Neo, the husband of Member of Parliament Lily Neo.
All was well until the group was nearing Malacca.
That was when a black Mercedes-Benz C-Class, with two men inside, flagged one of the cars down.
One of the men produced an identity card.
Meanwhile, the rest of the convoy - who were all hooked up with walkie-talkies - also pulled up along the road shoulder.
Mr Chia told The New Paper on Sunday that the two men had pretended to be custom officers.
But, he said, when the men saw that all the cars had stopped, they pretended it was a misunderstanding and drove off.
Later, the group pulled into a petrol station near Ayer Keroh to refuel.
About 10 minutes after leaving the station, the drivers in the black Merc tried their luck again, this time targeting the cars at the tail-end of the convoy.
They stopped a Maserati. But another Maserati also pulled up. (See other report).
Mr Chia was one of those who had pulled up along the road shoulder. But he stopped several metres ahead of the two Maseratis.
On hearing through his walkie-talkie that the two men were aggressive, he called the Johor police, he said.
To give the police a point of reference to their location, he drove further up where there were road signs.
Meanwhile, another Maserati driver who had stopped ahead of the two Maseratis decided to reverse his car, along the road shoulder, to back them up.
The two thugs found themselves outnumbered and left - but not before one of them snatched one of the Maseratis' keys from its ignition and made off with it.
Luckily the driver of that Maserati had brought his spare key along.
Meanwhile Mr Chia, who was on the phone with the police, did not realise that the thugs had left the group of Maserati drivers.
Suddenly, he said, while he was on the phone, the black Merc cut in front of his car.
'One of them flagged me down aggressively.
'But I quickly put my car into reverse and shot off.'
Car chase
Mr Chia said that the Merc driver then gave chase.
'I was travelling close to 200kmh, zig-zagging in between traffic. Then I hit a patch of heavy rain and lost him.'
The rest of the convoy were waiting for them at the Sungei Besi toll, the exit point for Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Chia said that while all that was unfolding, the members of the convoy knew what was happening as they were in communication with one another.
But, they did not realise that another Ferrari Club member was also making his way up to Genting. He was part of the trip, but not part of the convoy, Mr Chia said. It is not clear if he had a walkie-talkie.
As it turned out, this man was driving up behind the group.
Somehow, this driver caught up with the black Merc, whose robbery attempts had been foiled so far.
When the black Merc started chasing this driver, he sensed he was in trouble and he started speeding, hoping to lose the thugs.
'The Merc tried to bump his car three times, unsuccessfully,' Mr Chia said.
But when heavy rain came, the Ferrari driver lost control of his car and spun around, before crashing into the rail and another car.
The Ferrari driver and his wife, in the passenger seat, were shaken but fine.
Then, another danger - the black Merc pulled up alongside and used a crowbar to smash the window of his metallic-grey Ferrari.
The two thugs dragged him out of the car, and started punching and kicking him.
Mr Chia said that four more thugs joined the two men in beating the Ferrari owner, who is Malaysian. They then fled with his two watches.
By then, the Ferrari owner's wife had run off and to get help from passers-by. She was unharmed.
The Maseratis came upon the scene and helped the injured man before making their way to Genting Highlands.
Fearing for the group's safety, the group called for the representatives from the hotel to escort them to the next toll booth, Karak, from which they were escorted by the police for the rest of their journey.
He said that it was not clear to them if the attack had been pre-planned or just out of the blue.
Another Ferrari owner, who is also a member of the club but was not on this trip, said that going to Malaysia in a flashy car like a Ferrari is like 'an open ticket for any robber'.
'When there are more than 10 cars in a group, we are going to draw attention.'
This owner, who has been on more than 20 convoy trips, said that one of the safety measures was that they always drove in a group. 'The buddy-system has kept me safe so far.'
Hooked up
Mr Chia added that apart from ensuring that every member of the convoy is hooked up with walkie-talkies, they also try to drive 'tight', so that each car is not more than 2-km away from the other.
He said: 'The robbery victim was oblivious to what had happened to our convoy and he was very unfortunate to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1ST ATTEMPT
North-South Highway before Malacca - a black Mercedes-Benz cornered two Ferraris. When they stopped, the rest of the convoy also pulled up.
The robbers then pretended that it was a misunderstanding and drove off.
2ND ATTEMPT
3RD ATTEMPT
After leaving the group of Maserati drivers, the drivers of the Merc came across the Ferrari driver who was liaising on the phone with the police.
They gestured at him aggressively and tried to block his car.
He quickly put his car into reverse and shot off. But they gave chase.
Then, when he hit a patch of rain, they fell behind. He escaped unharmed.
Ayer Keroh exit along the highway - the same black Mercedes-Benz blocked a black Maserati which was at the tail-end of the convoy. Another Maserati driver stopped at the same time.
So did the driver of a Ferrari, who stopped by the road shoulder further ahead.
The driver of the Mercedes-Benz was aggressive and threatened to handcuff the two Maserati drivers. Meanwhile, the Ferrari driver was on the phone with the Johor Baru police.
Then, one more Maserati driver who was ahead of the two who were stopped, reversed his car along the road shoulder, to where the two Maseratis were. The thugs, after making some threats, left the group.
FINAL HIT
Meanwhile, a Malaysian driving a Singapore-registered metallic grey Ferrari was making his way to join the group in Genting Highlands.
He was not part of the convoy.
Suddenly, a black Merc tried to block his car. He knew something was amiss and he drove faster. There was a high-speed chase, during which the black Merc tried to bump his car off three times.
Then, the driver ran into the patch of rain and lost control of his car. His car spun around several times. When it came to a stop, the thugs in the black Merc used a crowbar and smashed his window. They pulled him out of the car, beat him up badly and stole his watches. His wife, who ran in the opposite direction and got help from a passing motorist, was unharmed.
