In August 2020, Don Tan and his wife were seeking a place in Singapore to start up a business.

They eventually settled on Midview City at Sin Ming Lane after coming across a decent offer on Carousell, according to Tan's Dec. 2 Facebook post.

"Landlord" would visit them everyday

Speaking to Mothership, Tan explained that since they had rented the place, a man who initially introduced himself as the landlord would visit them about three to four times a day.

"We thought it was odd, but we kept thinking he was just a lonely old man, because he always wore the same shabby outfit and would blather on and on about himself," said Tan.

The man, who goes by the name Danny, also claimed to own 16 units in the building and four companies.

Real landlord showed up

One day, however, the real landlord showed up with supporting documents proving his ownership.

That was when Tan and his family realised Danny was subletting illegally to them. He had breached his contract and thus his contract was terminated.

Subsequently, Tan signed a tenancy agreement  (TA) with the real owner of the unit.

According to Tan, Danny would still visit them regularly, telling them lies about the real owner.

He would also call and send messages, but Tan and his family ignored them.

"He was dissatisfied and desperate after the termination notice was issued to him by the owner."

Attacked his wife and son

At 10:51pm on Nov. 21, Danny barged in with a key he claimed to have lost.

He trespassed into the unit and started taking photos and videos of the unit.

At that moment, Tan was out running an errand. Only his wife and son were in the unit.

Danny then entered the room Tan's wife and son were in and started taking photos.

"My startled wife got up and tried to stop him, telling him repeatedly that he is trespassing and he needs to leave. He refused to leave, ignoring her and continued to do as he pleased.

He kept shoving my wife over while she was trying to push him back. At some point, during the scuffle, he stomped on my wife's foot which caused the fracture."

According to Tan, Danny also pushed his wife into the cabinet, knocking it over onto the bed and bruising her leg.

Tan's son was subsequently shoved over when Danny was trying to run away.

At this point, Tan received a phone call from his wife who told him about the incident.

Tan said: "I called him and told him to get out of my unit. That was when he stood at the door, while my wife was trying to stop him from leaving because the police are on their way."

Injuries

Tan's wife suffered a fractured toe, bruises, abrasions and a bite mark on her arm.

Fortunately, Tan's son had no serious injuries but he was emotionally affected by the incident.

"He has been crying in his sleep every night since it happened. He wakes up, telling us that he is scared," Tan told Mothership.

According to Tan, the police had released Danny as voluntarily causing hurt is not an arrestable offence.

Tan was also told by the police that the case is still pending.

Responding to queries from Mothership, the police said that they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing hurt at Block 20 Sin Ming Lane at 10:53pm on Nov. 21.

Police added: "A 25-year-old woman was conscious when conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Police investigations are ongoing."

Broke into the unit again

The day after the scuffle, Danny broke into their unit again.

He allegedly stole the SD card from Tan's surveillance camera which contained the footage of him assaulting Tan's wife.

He also broke their newly installed lock and installed his own by drilling a hole in the wall.

And he barricaded the entrance with his items.

Tan wrote in his Facebook post:

"The police didn’t even allow us to enter our unit and allowed him to stay in the unit when we unquestionably are the tenant of the unit (with supporting documents). And we were told us to go to civil court to settle this issue."

The police told Mothership that investigations are still ongoing in relation to the stolen item and damages.

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Top images from Don Tan/FB.