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Police Officer Lost Key to his Locked Bicycle So He Called the Police to Report a ‘Stolen Bike’ to Unlock the Bike

2021-10-23 , 11:10 am

Keys may be crucial, but they could also be of utmost inconvenience. After all, it’s easier to misplace them than nearly anything else.

“No cap,” the Wise Old Man nodded his head. “I must have lost my wife’s stolen car-key like 69 times already.”

Indeed, keys could undo even the most peaceful of circumstances.

And yet at the same time, it’s hardly surprising that actual cops would make such a mistake from time to time too.

Police Officer Lost Key to his Locked Bicycle So He Called the Police to Report a ‘Stolen Bike’ to Unlock the Bike

But here’s something to contemplate. While it’s one thing to actually lose your key…

It’s quite another to adopt illegal means to go around it.

As my boss always says, “Take a shortcut only if it’s legitimate and of the highest quality.”

On the morning of 26 May 2021, Ong Chee Seng, 50, cycled to Waterway Point in Punggol to get lunch.

He was a police officer at the time.

After locking his foldable bicycle at a bicycle bay, he went off to get lunch.

It was then that a “calamity” emerged.

Upon his return, he realised that he couldn’t find his key. Efforts to search for it were also to no avail.

He eventually submitted and took the train home.

Thereafter, however, he headed to Compass One shopping mall in Sengkang, and even went back to Waterway Point, in a bid to get relevant equipment to remove the lock. It was a failed venture.

He even approached the security counter at Waterway Point, but his request was declined as they could not verify the bicycle’s owner.

Help

It was at that point in time when he sent a virtual text for help. At around 3:50pm on that day, he WhatsApped a chat group, asking a friend called Alan for a cutter.

Unfortunately, Alan did not have one.

Another compatriot then suggested, in a joking manner, that Ong should call the police under the pretense that his bicycle had been stolen.

This way, Ong could procure “free service” and get his bicycle unlocked.

What the group chat members did not expect, however, was that Ong would actually go through with the plan.

At 5:30pm, he searched up the Punggol Neighbourhood Police Centre hotline and called the number.

He then stated: “I found my stolen bicycle here at bicycle bay of Waterway Point, I need police assistance.”

An investigation officer, as well as two ground response officers, were swiftly deployed to the scene. Ong then went through with the suggested plan, that his bicycle had been stolen and shifted.

What he did not expect, however, was for the officer to take a picture of him. Apparently, the image was to be used to match closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage.

It was then that Ong knew that he was in deep trouble.

After confessing to what he had actually done, the police summoned additional manpower to conduct further investigations.

And to think that it could all have been prevented if he had actually remembered where his key was.

Sentencing

In court, Ong’s lawyer reasoned that the offence had occurred, not out of any malicious intent, but “sheer stupidity.”

Can we get a burn heal for a fallen man please?

Ong was eventually sentenced to a S$3,000 fine (for giving false information to a public servant) on 21 October 2021, a reasonable penalty considering how he could have been fined up to S$5,000.

Meanwhile, the SPF has reportedly conducted “internal action” against Ong as well.

They also stated that officers should have high moral character and respect the law at all times.

Any individual who tries to test the system will be dealt with accordingly.

Police Officer Lost Key to his Locked Bicycle So He Called the Police to Report a ‘Stolen Bike’ to Unlock the Bike

Police Officer Lost Key to his Locked Bicycle So He Called the Police to Report a ‘Stolen Bike’ to Unlock the Bike

Help

Sentencing

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