A Mothership.sg reader has written in to dispute a Straits Times report and fellow eye-witness testimony regarding an incident where a police car crashed into a tree at Dorset Road on Feb. 8, 2016, the first day of Chinese New Year.

Here is her letter:

I refer to your article "Dorset Road tree injured after police car crashes into it on first day of Chinese New Year" dated Feb. 8, 2016.

I would like to inform you that I was a first-hand witness at the car crash. I have just filed a report with the police.

My 3.5-year-old daughter, 4-year-old niece and I were at the vicinity of the crash when it happened a few metres away.

I was mildly shocked and traumatised by the event, because of the grave consequences it could have led to.

The police did not offer to take my statement or account at the scene, and I left without contributing any statement or account of the event, because I was overwhelmed at the moment.

After the matter, I talked to my husband and family, and I realised that I should have left a statement with the police to give an independent account of what I saw.

Furthermore, we were quite disturbed by the news reporting, especially with Straits Times which reported that "no kids" were playing there, which was untrue.

I am also concerned whether the sedan involved were at all responsible for the crash, as I did not see any involvement on their end, although they stopped their car before the crash happened.

This has prompted me to step up to give my account of the incident to the police.

Mothership.sg has seen a copy of the police report and can confirm it was lodged online in the afternoon on Feb. 10, 2016.

The woman, who has requested to remain anonymous, has also clarified via email with us that she volunteered to make a police report as she was not approached by the police to record her statement at the scene.

She said via email:

The police asked me if I was alright but didn't ask me for a statement. I was mildly traumatised, and although it did occur to me that the police might need me to be a witness, eventually they did not ask me and I decided to leave. I was in the midst of my Chinese New Year visiting.

Her eye-witness account also contradicts ST's reporting, which said that they understand a golden sedan car had "hit the rear door of the police vehicle causing it to swerve" and that it "then mounted the pavement and hit a lamppost."

Based on the woman's police report, she said:

Two police officers stepped out of the vehicle, and one of them (from the front passenger seat) asked me if I was alright. I said yes. The driver (who was bespectacled) walked to another sedan car which stopped along Durham road and there was a verbal exchange. I overheard the police telling the family (who owned the sedan car) that this was a "one-way lane" and one of the family members said "no, it was a two-way lane". I stuck around for about 5 minutes and the police did not ask me for my statement or details. I was in a bit of a mild shock because of the grave consequences if my niece or my daughter would have been injured or ran over. Prior to the screeching, I did not hear any collision of vehicles.

Related article:

Dorset Road tree injured after police car crashes into it on first day of Chinese New Year

Top photo via

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