'I am not to be blamed': Teen biker hit with 6 charges following alleged escape from LTA officer
SINGAPORE — A teenage motorcyclist, who allegedly fled from a Land Transport Authority (LTA) enforcement officer, who died during a chase, was charged with weapon possession and drugs consumption, among other charges.
On June 6, the 18-year-old was handed six charges.
He cannot be named as he was still 17 years old when he allegedly consumed methamphetamine in August 2023.
Those below 18 are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
The teenager's charges included multiple traffic offences, such as riding a motorcycle in a dangerous manner.
On June 6, the teenager who is unrepresented, told the court: "I gambled my life as much as he gambled his. The death, I may be one of the contributing factors for the death, but I am not to be blamed."
A gasp could be heard from the gallery as he said those words.
LTA enforcement officer, Zdulfika Ahakasah, 26, crashed his motorcycle while chasing a motorcyclist near an expressway exit on June 4 and died in hospital.
A video of the incident posted on SG Road Vigilante — SGRV Facebook page shows the motorcyclist making a sudden swerve to the right and cutting into the path of a lorry. Zdulfika follows closely behind, before crashing his motorcycle into a road divider.
Police said they were alerted to the incident along the Seletar Expressway towards Bukit Timah Expressway near the Tampines Expressway exit at about 10.40am.
The teenager was arrested and his case has been adjourned to June 20.
On June 5, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a Facebook post he was saddened by Zdulfika's death.
He said: "Our enforcement and frontline officers perform their duties with courage and dedication."
Zdulfika's brother, Radin Ilahi Ahakasah, 47, had told The Straits Times Zdulfika was excited to get married in July.
The last fatal accident involving an outrider performing LTA-enforcement duties was in 1990.
Corporal Tan Tiang Hwa, who was with the Registry of Vehicles, which later merged with three public entities to form the LTA, was killed after he stopped a lorry along Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim which reversed into his motorcycle.
In 2017, Traffic Police Staff Sergeant Nadzrie Matin, 29, died following an accident along Serangoon Road while performing traffic patrol duties.
Zdulfika's death is the second one involving an officer who died in the line of duty in the past fortnight.
On May 16, firefighter Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin, 30, a regular officer with the Singapore Civil Defence Force, was killed while fighting a fire on China-flagged tanker Sheng Hang Hua 6 at Raffles Reserved Anchorage in the south-west of Singapore.
He was the second firefighter to die in the line of duty since 2022.
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