Suspected drink driver arrested after auxiliary police officer seriously injured at Tuas Checkpoint

SINGAPORE: A 42-year-old Singaporean man was arrested after a car he was driving hit and seriously injured a Certis auxiliary police officer (APO) at Tuas Checkpoint early on Friday (Mar 24).

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said it was alerted to the incident involving a Singapore-registered car at about 12.55am.

Investigations revealed that the driver was allegedly intoxicated and driving at high speed up the viaduct leading to Tuas Checkpoint, said ICA and the police in a joint statement later in the day.

"He purportedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the observation point, causing his vehicle to flip over and hit the 28-year-old auxiliary police officer who was on duty," the agencies added.

The APO had been stationed at the entry of the departure car zone.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force and Traffic Police were immediately dispatched to the scene, and the officer and the driver were taken to the National University Hospital.

The officer sustained a severe head injury and was unconscious, while the driver suffered lacerations.

ICA and Certis are in contact with the family of the APO, and providing the necessary support and assistance, said ICA and the police.

A man has since been arrested for drink-driving and dangerous driving causing grievous hurt.

The vehicle was seized and the driver's driving licence suspended with immediate effect, said the authorities. 

Police investigations are ongoing.

In a Facebook post at about 3am, ICA said that the accident had blocked all three lanes leading to the checkpoint's departure car and motorcycle zones, and advised travellers to use the departure cargo lanes.

In an update about two-and-a-half hours later, the authority said that the accident site had been cleared as of 5.35am and all lanes leading into the checkpoint were operational.

The offence of dangerous driving causing grievous hurt carries a jail term up to five years, while the offence of drink-driving carries a fine of up to S$10,000, a jail term up to 12 months, or both.

Offenders can be disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles. 

"We will not hesitate to take strict enforcement action against blatant breach of such rules," said ICA and the police.