Jail, fine for drunk biker who tried to bribe auxiliary cop with $50

After sharing three bottles of beer with a friend, a man rode his motorcycle and ended up near an entrance of the Port of Singapore Authority's (PSA) Brani Terminal after making a wrong turn.

An auxiliary police officer (APO) approached Cho Poh Hin, and noticed that he reeked of alcohol.

Cho then offered APO Harithasan Arumugam a bribe of $50 to try to get off the hook. The officer rejected the offer, and the police were alerted soon after.

On March 4, the 51-year-old Singaporean offender was sentenced to four weeks' jail and a fine of $4,500.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a period of 2½ years.

He had pleaded guilty to one count each of offering a bribe and riding a motorcycle while under the influence of alcohol.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Huo Jiongrui said that at around 7pm on Nov 24, 2022, Cho was at a Pasir Panjang coffee shop, where he shared three bottles of beer with a friend.

He stopped drinking at around 9.30pm and decided to head home on his motorcycle.

About 15 minutes later, he made a wrong turn and ended up near Gate 2 of PSA Brani.

APO Harithasan, who was deployed to the facility, approached Cho and found that he reeked of alcohol.

DPP Huo said: "He asked... whether the accused had consumed alcohol. At first, the accused avoided the question and stated that he wanted to make a U-turn.

"Although the accused avoided the question the first few times, he finally admitted that he (had) indeed drunk alcohol before riding the motorcycle."

Shortly before 10pm, APO Harithasan told Cho to stay put as he wanted to alert his control room about the latter's offence.

The matter would then be referred to the police, the court heard.

Upon hearing this, Cho got off his motorcycle, knelt down in front of APO Harithasan and tried to hand him a $50 note.

DPP Huo added: "APO Harithasan rejected the offer, asking the accused what he was trying to do. However, the accused was undeterred, and continued by trying to slip the (money) into APO Harithasan's vest."

APO Harithasan, who refused to accept the money, contacted his control room to report the matter.

The police were alerted and officers soon arrived at the scene. They arrested Cho after he failed a preliminary breath test.

They took him to the Police Cantonment Complex and he was later found with 66 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

This was almost double the prescribed limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in the same amount of breath.

Cho was later charged in court in 2024.