Police Taser knife-wielding man
When the police told him to drop his weapon, he refused. Instead, he threatened to turn the knife on himself.
The 54-year-old man was eventually shot with a Taser gun, an electroshock weapon, and arrested for possession of an offensive weapon.
Witnesses of the dramatic late night incident on Monday told The New Paper that the man had been drinking at the coffee shop at Toa Payoh Central earlier before leaving to drink somewhere else.
"He came back later with the knife, which was about 30cm long," said a female worker at the coffee shop in her 30s who declined to be named.
"He started causing a ruckus and threatened to kill himself when the police came."
A video of the incident at Block 78C, Toa Payoh Central, was taken and sent to citizen journalism website Stomp.
It showed police officers trying to get a man to drop the knife.
After several unsuccessful attempts, the Taser gun was fired. The man then dropped to the ground.
FREQUENT DINER
One stall worker, who gave his name as Mr Wang, 25, described the man as tall and skinny and said he was drinking at the time.
"He comes here frequently to eat and drink beer," he said. "I'm not sure what happened, but he suddenly came back and took out a knife."
He added that there had been about 10 customers at the coffee shop at the time.
A police spokesman said they received a call at about 11.30pm requesting for assistance at the block.
"Upon police arrival, a 54-year-old man was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon," the spokesman added.
The man was taken conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Other regular customers of the coffee shop said the man was often there, but would not cause trouble if he was not provoked.
Said a 55-year-old man who declined to be named: "I think he was agitated because he usually keeps to his own friends and does not cause too much trouble."
When asked what he meant by trouble, he claimed the man had been in jail before and had mental issues and would sometimes act out physically.
He said the man lived nearby and had been with a group of friends at the coffee shop when the incident happened, but he did not know what had caused the outburst.
Workers at the coffee shop said customers and workers scrambled away when they saw the man had a knife.
One female worker said in Mandarin: "We were not scared, but we just didn't want to agitate him further and get hurt."
"We were not scared but we just didn't want to agitate him further and get hurt."
- Coffee shop worker on how everyone scrambled away when they saw the knife
OTHER CASES
APRIL 12, 2014
While sniffing glue, a 50-year-old cleaner hit a police officer and was Tasered.
A police spokesman said the man was later arrested for inhaling an intoxicating substance and using criminal force on a public servant.
MARCH 31, 2014
A 47-year-old man was Tasered and arrested after the police received a call about drunk men causing a nuisance at around 4pm.
This incident took place at Block 52, Chin Swee Road. Police said a man was arrested for disorderly behaviour and suspected consumption of controlled drugs.
FEB 26, 2013
A 31-year-old man stripped naked in public and caused a commotion in Bukit Panjang.
A policeman told him to get dressed, but the man refused and charged at the officer. He threw a punch at the policeman's face, but the officer managed to evade it.
When the man continued to be aggressive, the officer took out his Taser gun and warned him. Later, two more policemen arrived at the scene and helped to arrest the man.
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