Man drove dangerously after taking ‘cough tablets’. Then he tried to eat a raw egg with shell on
Before he began driving, Mohamad Yusri Mohamed Yusoff took some tablets and his blood was later found to contain dextromethorphan, which is used for cough relief and may cause side effects such as dizziness and light-headedness.
SINGAPORE — After purportedly taking seven or eight “cough tablets” that he bought from the Geylang area, Mohamad Yusri Mohamed Yusoff began feeling drowsy, scared and lost.
Still, he drove a lorry and got into two accidents before abandoning his vehicle.
When police officers found him at his flat later, he began acting strangely.
He moved from room to room, said he was hungry and began chewing on a raw egg with its shell still on. He also started chewing on his spectacles and the officers tried to stop him from choking. That was when he began rolling around and kicking the window grilles.
He also pushed one of the officers forcefully on the chest, and kicked the other in the face as they tried to arrest him.
For his actions, the 43-year-old freelance delivery driver was jailed for nine months and fined S$4,400 on Wednesday (June 19). He was also disqualified from holding or getting all classes of driving licences for four years.
He pleaded guilty in April to eight charges including driving under the influence of drugs and causing hurt to a public servant. Another four similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Yusri claimed to have taken some tablets on Aug 1, 2017. His blood was found to contain dextromethorphan, which is used for cough relief and may cause side effects such as dizziness and light-headedness.
It was not stated why he took the tablets.
At about 11.30am that day, he began driving his lorry along Yishun Central towards Yishun Avenue 2.
When he tried to drive between two cars, he collided into one and side-swiped the bumper of the other vehicle. He then drove off without stopping.
About 1.5 hours later, Yusri crashed into a taxi in front of him while driving along the Woodlands Avenue 7 slip road into Woodlands Avenue 4. Again, he sped off without stopping.
The three victims, who were not injured, made police reports right after the accidents.
The taxi driver began following Yusri until they reached the multi-storey car park at Block 737A, Woodlands Circle.
Yusri repeatedly tried to enter the car park through the exit lane, and collided many times into the 2.1m-tall height-limit pole and the metal arm barrier of the car park. Both structures were dented as a result.
He later abandoned his lorry and ran away.
Half an hour later, two police officers turned up at his home to look for him.
As he gave inconsistent answers as to whether he was involved in any traffic accidents, they decided to wait for Traffic Police officers to arrive.
During that time, Yusri began to behave abnormally — besides chewing on the egg, he took a sponge with detergent in it from the kitchen sink and went to his son’s room, while the tap was still running.
Suspecting he had consumed a controlled drug, the officers called for back-up and decided to arrest him.
When they tried to stop Yusri from going to the kitchen, he “gestured in a punching manner” at one of them and then pushed the officer forcefully on the chest with his arm. A scuffle broke out and they all fell to the ground.
As the officers tried to handcuff him, he kicked another officer in the face, causing that officer’s spectacles to fly off his face.
They eventually managed to subdue and arrest him.
