E-scooter rider admits crashing into LTA officer at 40kmh

He tried to escape from Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers by riding away on his non-compliant e-scooter. Instead, Soh Hann Kwang, 45, crashed into one of them at 40kmh.

Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to deter the public servant from his duty.

A charge of using criminal force on a public servant will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

On Aug 25, 2018, LTA officers were conducting enforcement operations along Punggol Park Connector and set up a checkpoint to stop and check passing e-scooters.

At 10pm, they spotted Soh with a group of about 20 people riding along the connector. But instead of stopping at the checkpoint, the group broke off, making a U-turn.

Two officers stationed away from the checkpoint were told to stop the group. Soh was now riding ahead of the group without any headlights, and the two officers signalled him to stop by blowing a whistle and waving their lighted traffic wands.

The rest of the group made another U-turn, but Soh did not slow down and continued at high speed towards the officers. He crashed into one of them at about 40kmh, and they fell.

The other officers detained Soh.

They also issued him a fine for his non-compliant device that weighed more than 20kg and had a width of more than 70cm.

The officer was taken to hospital and given two days' medical leave for minor injuries.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Ho urged the court to jail Soh for at least four months, calling his actions a flagrant and serious breach of the law.

Soh will be sentenced on Nov 19 and is out on $15,000 bail. For voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty, he can be jailed for up to seven years and can also be fined or caned. - DAVID SUN