SINGAPORE: When stopped by a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer on suspicion that he was driving an overloaded truck, a man tried multiple ways to escape before returning to the impounded truck with his boss in order to remove tonnes of coal from the vehicle.
Chong Kong Pooi, 49, was sentenced to a week’s jail on Wednesday (Oct 12). He pleaded guilty to one charge each of obstructing the course of justice by removing the coal and another charge of refusing to comply with the LTA officer’s instructions for the truck to be weighed.
A third charge was considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Chong, a Malaysian, was working as a driver for Hiap Tat Holdings. On Mar 4 last year, Chong loaded up hard coal into the truck and was driving it from Seletar North Link towards Fort Road for unloading.
At about 3.45pm, an LTA enforcement officer performing checks along Fort Road spotted the tipper truck and suspected it was overloaded, a contravention of a road traffic rule. He followed the truck with his motorcycle and directed for Chong to stop the truck.
The truck was pulled over before the entrance of the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE). The maximum laden weight of the truck was 28,000kg or 28 tonnes, but a card on the truck indicated that it was carrying a load of 36,540kg.
The officer told Chong that the truck was overloaded and said he needed to escort Chong back to an inspection centre for weighing. Knowing that the truck was overloaded, Chong pleaded with the officer not to escort him to the inspection centre.
The officer told him to comply with his directions and they started off in their respective vehicles towards the inspection centre. On the way, Chong called his employer, Mr Chan Je Huat, and told him what happened.
BOSS ASKS HIM TO TRY TO RUN, HE COMPLIES
Mr Chan also knew the truck was overloaded and told Chong to “just try to run” first. Chong listened to his boss and made multiple moves in an effort to escape.
He made a sharp turn to exit the MCE tunnel via the Marina Coastal Road exit and stopped his vehicle. The officer questioned him about this and Chong pleaded with him to let him unload the truck before going to the inspection centre.
The officer refused and asked Chong to follow the officer’s vehicle. While on the way along Central Boulevard, Chong made a sudden right turn to Marina Gardens Drive, but the LTA officer quickly caught up with him at a traffic junction.
He asked Chong what was going on and Chong said he did not want to drive anymore and wanted to go home. He asked the officer for one more chance, but was declined. Chong then drove off.
The officer gave chase and called his colleagues for assistance. The truck was stopped at the traffic junction of Marina Gardens Drive and Central Boulevard, and the LTA officers seized the keys as they found Chong was driving recklessly. Chong would not cooperate and struggled with the officers before running off towards Shenton Way.
He was apprehended and instructed to sit on the ground. He sat down, but suddenly got up again and got into the truck, where he drove away for the third time under the pretext of retrieving his petrol card.
In an attempt to get away from the pursuing officers, Chong ran a red light and performed an illegal U-turn. A traffic police officer went to help the LTA officers and they managed to stop Chong. Another three LTA officers also arrived and the entire party escorted Chong towards the Inspection Centre.
At Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Chong stopped the truck and claimed there was no more petrol left, even though there was a quarter tank of petrol left in the truck. He was made to continue moving, but again stopped at another junction and refused to drive forward.
Chong later claimed the truck had broken down and could no longer move. The original LTA officer told him he would need to tow and impound the truck and asked him to sign the towing form.
However, Chong refused to sign the form as his boss had instructed him against it. The truck was towed to a car park beside the Land Transport Authority’s office in Sin Ming. A note was placed on the truck stating that it was under investigation by the LTA.
CHONG RETURNS TO SCENE WITH BOSS TO FIND THE TRUCK
Later that night, after the LTA officer had left, Chong returned to the area with his boss. The pair drove around to look for the truck and found it.
On his boss’ instructions, Chong removed three to four tonnes of coal from the truck to ensure the laden weight was within the acceptable limits.
The truck was never weighed as the authorities had reason to believe it had been tampered with.
The case was handled by an LTA prosecutor and a deputy public prosecutor. The latter asked for a week’s jail for the obstruction of justice charge, noting the amount of police investigative resources channelled into the case.
However, he noted the early plea of guilt and the fact that Chong had taken instructions from his superior.
The LTA prosecutor asked for three to five days’ jail. He said this was not a usual run-of-the-mill case, but was one of the most egregious seen so far.
“There were eight stops that were made from MCE to (the inspection centre). This whole event lasted for about four hours and 15 minutes. That is a very long time to escort a vehicle from the MCE … given how big Singapore is,” he said.
He added that there were five LTA officers and a traffic police officer involved, without even beginning to take into account the resources used in just escorting Chong to the inspection centre.
Chong’s lawyer said a jail term was not appropriate in this case. He said his client was the sole breadwinner of his family, who lives in Malaysia. The offences were committed due to his “poor judgment calls” and out of “misguided loyalty” to his boss.
He asked for leniency, saying the offences were not committed for personal gain as the company would have been responsible had the truck been weighed and found to be overloaded.