Driver in checkpoint breach charged for rash act and vandalism

The infamous 64-year old Mercedes-Benz driver, Tan Chu Seng, who broke through a security barrier at Woodlands Checkpoint on Saturday, was charged in court earlier today.

Tan is accused of committing a rash act by driving the Mercedes recklessly, which caused an injury to police officer, Safie Mahrom. In addition, the Singapore permanent resident is also facing a single charge of vandalism after he drove into the cat-claw security barrier and, thus, damaging it.

According to The Straits Times, the court granted the prosecution's request for the accused to be remanded at Jurong Police Division for a week for further investigations. Despite requesting for a shorter remand of four days, due to medical issues including hypertension, urine acid and diabetes, Tan's request was rejected and instead was instructed by the district judges to inform police investigators about his condition.

Tan drove his Singapore registered car out of the checkpoint at 4:05pm on Saturday, after he was stopped for a boot check. The security barriers, that were supposed to prevent him from entering the country, malfunctioned and despite puncturing his front tyres, Tan managed to drive over the barrier and speed away. He was eventually caught after five hours.

According to The Immigration and Checkpoints Authorities (ICA), this is the first such incident in which the barriers had failed - and the incident has drawn a sharp reprimand from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who added procedures and training at ICA have to be improved sharply.

The local paper added that the Home Affairs Minister, through a statement issued yesterday, has directed the Commissioner of ICA to implement measures to better secure Singapore's checkpoints quickly. In addition, the Commissioner will also review if further enhancements are needed after Saturday's incident.