Group Gathered Illegally in North Bridge Road Shophouse & Tried to Hide on Rooftop when Police Arrive

By
Rae Woo
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We’re fast approaching the end of 2020, and the new year’s already knocking on our doors.

Perhaps the upcoming festive season and Phase 3, where gatherings of up to eight people will be allowed, might have caused some people to be overly enthusiastic about social gatherings and be lax about following the rules.

Because there’s nothing like a good chasing by the police to experience the fleeting thrill of youth, right?

Illegal Large Group Gathering In Shophouse

On 20 Dec, Sunday, a large group of people allegedly gathered in a shophouse along North Bridge Road for the purpose of drinking alcohol together, the police heard at around 4:30am in the early morning.

Get this – there were a whopping 15 people found in the shophouse, exactly triple of the amount of five people allowed to gather according to social distancing restrictions. 12 men and three women aged between 22 and 40 made up this drinking group.

Similar to what most people’s first instinct when faced with approaching police officers would be, one of the men, aged 29, decided to try and flee the two-storey shophouse. In an escape attempt worthy of a Mission Impossible film, the man actually tried to exit from the roof except that he might’ve forgotten that he’s not Tom Cruise because Mr Cruise is very adamant about COVID-19 rules.

For committing such a dangerous act, it was constituted as a rash act, and the man was subsequently arrested by the police for it.

Besides the Cruise-wannabe, the police also found 10 other people hiding on the roof, just like discovering one lizard egg in your fuse box only to find that there’s also another dozen of eggs hiding there.

The group had gathered to drink together on Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, preliminary investigations by the police revealed. More investigation is still ongoing.

Failing to adhere to safe distancing measures under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020 could lead to a fine of up to $10,000, six months of jail, or both.

For the 29-year-old man, committing a rash act under Section 336(a) of the Penal Code could cost him a fine of up to $2,500, six months of jail, or both if he is found to be guilty in possibly endangering the personal safety of others or human life.

There Were Other Breaches Last Weekend, Too

In the same weekend alone, a large group of people totalling 12 were arrested for their involvement in the Clarke Quay brawl on Saturday, 19 Dec, including five of them who had been arrested for rioting with a deadly weapon.

Seven more men were also arrested for rioting and committing rash acts following a huge fight allegedly involving a knife at a restaurant along Circular Road on 20 Dec, Sunday.

For the second fight, the police are now looking for three suspects.

To top it all off, five F&B establishments have also halted operations for allowing large groups of people to sit together and for hiding alcohol in green tea bottles to serve after 10:30pm.

Following these incidents, education minister and co-chair of the COVID-19 Multi Ministry Taskforce Mr Lawrence Wong warned the public that enforcement checks will be stepped up even more in this year-end festive period.

He also appealed for everyone not to overstep the boundaries, for this is not the time to assume Singapore is safe and let our guards down.

Let’s spend the festivities safely for a smoother transition into 2021.

Featured Image: Kevin Hellon / Shutterstock.com (Image is for illustration purpose only)

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Rae Woo
Email: [email protected]