Food deliveryman on e-scooter fined S$4,000 for punching pedestrian after dispute
Rominico Ezekiel Siddons was fined S$4,000 in a district court after pleading guilty to one charge of causing hurt to Mr Lim Say Khye.
SINGAPORE — While riding his electric scooter along the drain bordering a footpath, a part-time Foodpanda delivery man accidentally struck a pedestrian with his bag.
Things escalated from there, and the pedestrian shouted a vulgarity at the rider.
The verbal dispute culminated in the rider punching the other man on the cheek and chest.
On Tuesday (Feb 11), Rominico Ezekiel Siddons was fined S$4,000 in a district court. The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt to Mr Lim Say Khye, 60.
The court heard that the incident took place on July 24 last year, when Siddons was a student at the Institute of Technical Education College East.
Mr Lim was walking along the footpath of Pasir Ris Town Park while Siddons was riding his e-scooter in the same direction.
He overtook Mr Lim by riding along the drain, but did not stop even when he felt his delivery bag hitting Mr Lim.
Upset that Siddons did not stop to apologise to him, Mr Lim shouted a Hokkien vulgarity at him.
Siddons then got off his e-scooter and approached Mr Lim in an aggressive manner, asking if Mr Lim intended to apologise to him, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Tongyi told the court.
The older man refused and insisted that Siddons should instead apologise for knocking into him.
At this point, another woman walking nearby saw Siddons raising his arm towards Mr Lim. She became worried and went to get help from other members of the public.
Siddons punched Mr Lim once on his left cheek before delivering another blow to his chest. As they continued arguing, he advanced towards Mr Lim, who swung his hand in a bid to maintain distance.
Two passersby arrived and separated the two men, but Siddons “continued making motions to hit” Mr Lim, DPP Tan said. One of the passersby told him not to raise his hands anymore.
Mr Lim called the police and told them: “Someone riding e-scooter hit onto me and I scolded him vulgarities and he beat me up. I don’t need ambulance but he wants to attack me again.”
While waiting for the police to arrive, Siddons received another food delivery order and left to collect it.
Mr Lim did not seek any immediate medical attention.
For causing hurt, Siddons could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.
ANOTHER CASE
Separately, another e-scooter rider was charged in court on Tuesday with assaulting a man with his belt buckle.
The police said on Monday that Muhammad Jazli Jamal, 33, was allegedly riding on a footpath on Nov 29 last year when he got into a verbal dispute with a 72-year-old man. This happened around 2.15pm in front of Block 237B Punggol Place.
E-scooters have been banned on footpaths since Nov 5 last year, with the ban going into full effect this year.
According to court documents, Jazli purportedly used his belt to strike Mr Lee Kok Siong on his head, leaving lacerations on the elderly man’s forehead.
