A man who was caught by an auxiliary police office for illegal fishing failed to comply and started to get physical with the officer.
29-year-old Chua Ci Jie who was a previous research officer at A*Star faces a total of 4 charges for his offences.
When and Where?
The incident happened on 30 November 2019, the man was fishing illegally at Upper Seletar Reservoir and was caught by an auxiliary police office for fishing in an illegal area.
The officer then asked for his details but he failed to comply and tried to escape. He ran down a slope, the officer grabbed onto Chua and they both roll down the slope.
Chua did not give up and pushed the officer away attempting to continue his escape.
Chua ran for 200 meters before he finally gave up and surrendered his identification card to the officer.
In Court, Chua denied the allegations, despite his identity and audio between them was recorded by the officer’s body camera.
If he had only surrendered and paid the fine he would have paid up to $5,000 fine for fishing at a no-fishing area that is managed by the Nparks.
Due to his actions, he is facing one count of using criminal force against a public servant on top of the charges for illegal fishing.
Using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of her duty, under Section 353 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. The offence is punishable with an imprisonment term of up to four years, a fine, or both.
Chua will be back in court on Monday (Jan 18) to receive his sentencing