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On Saturday (Apr. 23) night, a man allegedly punched a ComfortDelGro taxi driver in the face after he was asked to exit the taxi, as it had already been booked by other people.
Malcolm Keating, the man who had booked the taxi, managed to take two videos of the alleged culprit and shared them on Twitter in hopes of someone recognising the man and reporting him to the police.
Man's name and company identified, shared with police
Keating's initial tweet quickly went viral and has been retweeted over 4,000 times.
About seven hours after his initial tweet, Keating reported that someone had informed him of the man's name and company, which Keating then shared with the police and the taxi driver.
ComfortDelGro assisting cabbie
ComfortDelGro is in contact with the taxi driver and assisting him in the aftermath of the alleged assault, said Tammy Tan, the company's group chief branding and communications officer.
"We will be waiving rental for the three days of medical leave that he has been given, and will be assisting him the best we can. We will also assist the Police in their investigations."
She added that cabbies who have been assaulted are instructed not to retaliate when faced with a threatening situation.
Instead, they are told to remember as much as they can in order to assist the police in their investigations.
"They should file a police report and forward it to the company for follow up action.
We help them with their medical claims, losses and also rental waiver, if needed. We also compensate them for their loss in income when they are required to attend the court as witnesses."
“Our cabbies deserve to work in a safe environment like everybody else," Tan said.
She also extended her gratitude to Keating:
"We would like to thank Mr Keating and his friends for helping our cabby and bringing this matter to our attention."
What happened
Keating told Mothership that he and two friends had booked a ComfortDelGro taxi at around 10pm on Saturday (Apr. 23) at the junction of Arab Street and Beach Road.
When they reached the taxi, though, another man was sitting inside.
The man was then reportedly asked by the taxi driver to leave but before he exited the vehicle, he punched the driver in the face.
Keating said he and his two friends confronted the alleged assailant about his actions.
Keating also began filming the man — who he said seemed to be intoxicated — in order to capture his face.
The man shoved Keating backwards onto the street before walking away towards Haji Lane.
Keating followed the man through the tables of people drinking at Haji Lane, continuing to film, and yelled: "Can someone call the cops on that guy? He just assaulted someone!"
The man then turned around suddenly, as if he was ready to fight, and then flipped Keating off.
Gif via Twitter/@cmalcolmkeating.
Keating retreated slightly and the man continued on his way, with no bystanders intervening.
After a few more moments, Keating returned to the taxi to check on the driver, who was being attended to by someone else.
The driver did not want to call the police at the time and instead drove Keating and his friends home.
Keating said once he got home, he lodged a police report. He believes that the taxi driver has also made a police report.
He added that he spoke to the driver the following morning who seemed "okay but shaken up".
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Top photos via Twitter/@cmalcolmkeating.