SINGAPORE: Wanting to avoid a police roadblock as he had been drink driving, a man abandoned his car at the exit of a commercial building, asked the security guard to watch his vehicle and fled on foot.
Singaporean Manikam Varatharaj, 45, was eventually nabbed by the police after the security guard walked to the roadblock to tell them what had happened.
He claimed trial, but was convicted of one count each of drink driving and leaving his car in a position that inconvenienced other road users.
On Friday (Jul 28), he was jailed for three weeks, fined S$6,800 and banned from driving for 42 months.
The court heard that Varatharaj was driving in Woodlands at about 2.30am on Sep 22, 2019 when he saw a police roadblock ahead of him.
He turned into a small road leading to the Seagate and 3M Singapore buildings, before making a U-turn at the end of the road and parking in front of a Seagate exit.
A security guard stationed at the 3M Singapore guardhouse approached Varatharaj, who asked the guard to look after the car because he “needed to go somewhere urgent”.
The guard warned Varatharaj that he would inform the police if Varatharaj did not remove his car from the premises.
Despite the warning, Varatharaj abandoned his car and ran away.
The guard saw that Varatharaj appeared “panicky” and reeked of alcohol, and the abandoned car was obstructing the exit lane such that any vehicle leaving Seagate would be forced to manoeuvre around it.
The guard walked to the police roadblock and told an officer what happened.
Police officers then drove down from Sembawang Neighbourhood Police Centre, and found two foreign workers arriving at the scene in a van.
They were Varatharaj’s workers, and they said their boss had asked them to go there.
While they were speaking to the police, Varatharaj called one of the workers. The police took over the call, and Varatharaj said to meet at his home in Woodlands.
Varatharaj admitted he drank two cans of beer and was on his way home when he saw the roadblock.
He told an officer he wanted to avoid detection and so abandoned his car as he did not want to get caught a second time for drink driving.
At trial, Varatharaj claimed he had not seen the police roadblock, and that he stopped the car because his hands and legs were trembling.
He claimed he had brought two cans of beer with him in his pockets after abandoning his car, and that he drank them at a coffeeshop.
The prosecution sought four to six weeks’ jail, a fine between S$8,000 and S$10,000 and four years’ driving ban.
Even though Varatharaj’s first drink driving conviction was 19 years ago in 2004, he was also given composition fines for using a phone while driving in 2011, as well as for speeding in 2012, said the prosecutor.