Singapore—In a press release on Friday (June 11), the police announced that four people are being investigated for abusive behaviour against safe distancing ambassadors (SDA).
The most unusual of these cases is that of a man and a woman who appear to have teamed up to taunt a female SDA.
They fled after abusing her.
However, they have been identified by investigators.
The incident occurred on May 26.
An SDA told the police that she was on duty when a man, 54, came up to her in Crawford Lane. He taunted her, pulling down his mask, and challenged her to catch him.
Immediately afterwards, a 25-year-old woman, seemingly a companion of the man, also went up to the SDA and “allegedly pushed her on her shoulder, and stepped on her foot”.
The pair then ran away.
Now identified, they are “assisting with investigations for using criminal force, voluntarily causing hurt, and for flouting safe distancing measures”, the police said.
Under the Penal Code, if the man and woman are convicted of using criminal force, they could be jailed for as long as three months, fined as much as S$1,500, or both.
Moreover, should they be found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt, they could be jailed for up to three years, fined as much as S$5,000, or both.
The man, who pulled down his mask in front of the SDA, could also be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both, if found guilty of breaching safe distancing measures.
The police are also investigating another incident that occurred the day after the SDA was abused at Crawford Lane.
On May 27, a group of men gathered at a void deck in Yishun Street 11 got into a dispute. Police saw the men “allegedly gathering with beer cans strewn across a table beside them”.
When they spoke to the group, one of the men, 39, reportedly wanted to leave, but he was asked by the police to stay. He was then said to have grown belligerent and used vulgarities against the officers.
He also punched another man in front of the police. The man was then arrested for using abusive language against a public servant and for causing annoyance whilst drunk.
The man, along with the rest of the group, is being investigated for a breach of safe distancing measures.
The final incident mentioned in the police statement involved a call for assistance from a safe distancing enforcement officer (SDEO) at a food centre along Redhill Lane on Thursday (June 10).
One man was reported to have used abused language against the SDEO after the officer told him he could not eat at the tables.
“When the police officers advised him to refrain from sitting at the table to consume his food, the man purportedly refused to comply and continued to use abusive language towards the SDEO,” the statement says.
The man will be charged in court on Friday (June 11) for the use of abusive language against a public servant.
/TISG
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