36-year-old Lim Pin Jing has been accused of endangering the personal safety of others after he drove his car into the sea, at Ocean Drive off Sentosa Cove last Friday.
In a truly bizarre incident, Lim was seen crashing through the safety barricades and plunging into the water, while he was hotly pursued by Sentosa Rangers on motorbikes. It is unclear why Lim was being chased.
In the traffic altercation that ensued, one ranger – Irman Kamarudin – suffered a cut on his right knee.
As for Lim, his car had sunk to the bottom with him trapped in it. He was only rescued when a Super Yatch captain David Roberts who happened to be nearby jumped in the water to pull Lim out from his car.
Roberts managed to loosen the man’s seatbelt through a small opening underwater but could not open the car doors. He resurfaced and got a rock from a bystander, using it to break through the windows and pull Lim out.
An eyewitness told the Chinese daily that Lim spoke repeatedly of dying and said that “a mermaid” told him to plunge into the sea.
Lim has since been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health. He will appear in court on Sep 8.