SINGAPORE: A 31-year-old man was arrested on Monday (Sep 16) after he bit a police officer while attempting to evade arrest, police said in a news release.
The Singapore Police Force said the man was first spotted driving at high speed on Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway at about 1.25am by a pair of Traffic Police (TP) officers on patrol.
When signalled to stop, the man instead sped away, evading the pursuit of the officers. He beat a red light before crashing his car into a metal pole along Punggol Central.
The man then fled on foot but the pursuing officers managed to stop him. As the officers were trying to detain him, the man bit one of them on his left arm.
But the officer managed to subdue and arrest the man after other officers arrived as reinforcements.
“A search was conducted on the man. Drug paraphernalia was found in his possession,” said police.
Investigations also found that the man was wanted by the police for offering his Singpass credentials for cash in February.
He had handed over his Singpass login details to an unknown party, though attempts to open bank accounts by the unknown party were unsuccessful, police said.
Meanwhile the 26-year-old officer who was bitten suffered a bruise on his left arm. He was taken to hospital and subsequently discharged with two days of medical leave.
The man will be charged on Tuesday with voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty, as well as one count under the Computer Misuse Act for disclosing his Singpass details.
He will also be charged with dangerous driving, driving without a valid licence and using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage.
Investigations by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) into the suspected drug-related offences are ongoing, police said.
“The police have zero tolerance for such brazen acts of violence against police officers and will not hesitate to take firm action,” it said.
“TP also takes a serious view of motorists who drive without valid licences. Motorists who choose to flout traffic laws will face dire consequences.”