Police superintendent, 51, gets 2 weeks' jail & S$5,000 fine for drink driving in Tampines

Update on May 15 at 10:40pm: This article has been updated with a statement from SPF.

After drinking during a Chinese New Year celebration, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) superintendent repeatedly refused his wife's offers for her to take over the wheel when driving home.

Instead, after his wife and two sons got out of the car, Chan Hee Keong, 51, continued to speed and drive dangerously in February 2024.

Over the course of more than two hours behind the wheel, Chan switched lanes without signalling, stopped at a green light in Tampines for 11 seconds, parked at a bus bay for 30 minutes, and came to a complete stop on a two-lane slip road along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) to throw up.

He was arrested there for drink driving by traffic police.

On May 14, Chan was sentenced to two weeks' jail and fined S$5,000, The Straits Times reported.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years.

More about Chan

According to the Singapore government's directory, Chan is the head of operations and intelligence at the Police Security Command. He held this position at the time of the offences.

SPF said in a statement on May 15 that it swiftly initiated investigations against Chan after the incident was reported.

"Officers of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct. We deal accordingly with officers who break the law, including charging them in court," SPF said.

SPF also said that now that the court case is over, it will commence internal disciplinary action against Chan.

Refused wife's offers to take over despite being drunk

Court documents indicated that on the evening of Feb. 23, 2024, Chan, his wife and two sons were at Changi Golf Club with other family members, for a Chinese New Year celebration.

While having dinner, Chan drank several glasses of wine and beer.

At around 10:27pm, Chan drove his wife and two sons home but did so dangerously as he was intoxicated.

He wove in between lanes, lane-split, passed through a traffic junction after the light turned red, and drove straight through another junction while in a right-turn lane.

Chan's wife told him he was not driving straight, and for more than ten times, offered to drive instead.

However, Chan refused.

After repeatedly asking Chan to stop the car so they could take a taxi or call a valet, Chan's wife managed to alight the car with their two sons at about 10:54pm when it stopped at a red light.

The three then made their own way home separately.

Almost hit another car

Chan, who was driving alone at this point, parked at a bus bay along Tampines Avenue 5 for about eight minutes.

At about 11:03pm, Chan drove off and narrowly avoided a car that drove past him near Block 10 Simei Avenue.

The car passenger noticed Chan kept switching between lanes and that his head was swaying.

Upon reaching home, her husband reported Chan's vehicle to the police for drink driving and almost hitting them.

Chan's dashcam footage showed that he continued along Tampines Avenue 5 towards Xilin Avenue.

From 11:05pm, he was seen switching lanes without signalling, speeding up and slowing down unpredictably on the road, which had a 70 km/h speed limit.

A speed estimation report prepared by the Health Science Authority (HSA) estimated that Chan exceeded the speed limit of the road twice, travelling at over 82km/h on those occasions.

Obstructed vehicles at bus bay, slip road

Chan subsequently came to a complete stop at a green light at a traffic junction between Simei Avenue and Upper Changi Road East.

Without any vehicles behind him, Chan's car stayed stationary for 11 seconds before the light turned red.

At about 11:10pm, Chan drove off from the junction and made an illegal right turn onto Changi Road East.

He continued driving dangerously before parking at the bus bay of another bus stop at Bedok North for 30 minutes.

Eight buses had to drive around Chan's car, and passersby even came over to check on him.

One passerby called the police at 11:41pm to report that a driver of a black BMW was drunk and came out of his car to vomit.

10 minutes later, Chan drove off, travelling on the Central Expressway before taking an exit towards the PIE in the direction of Tuas.

At about 12:06am, Chan came to a complete stop on the second lane of a slip road along the PIE near the exit of Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, and threw up.

Chan's car remained there for 40 minutes, during which many vehicles had to drive around it.

At 12:36am, the police got another call from a member of the public who said, “One guy drunk and he vomited all over his car. His car is stationary here. Please send some down.”

10 minutes later, an auxiliary police officer found Chan in his car, before the traffic police arrived to investigate the matter.

During the interview, Chan reeked of alcohol and also failed a breathalyser test.

He was placed under arrest for drink driving and escorted to traffic police headquarters for a follow-up breath test.

The breath test revealed that Chan had 67 microgrammes of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of breath — almost twice the prescribed limit of 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

Insisted on driving despite being asked to stop: Prosecution

Chan was charged with one count of drink driving and one count of careless driving, with two other charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

For the drink driving charge, the prosecution asked for a S$5,000 fine and three years' disqualification from driving for Chan.

For the careless driving charge, prosecutors submitted for a sentence of three to five weeks' jail and four years' disqualification from driving.

The prosecutor noted that Chan had "engaged in multiple unlawful and dangerous traffic manoeuvres" while being on the road for over two hours.

Additionally, Chan was given multiple chances to stop driving — including his wife offering more than 10 times to take the wheel —  but chose not to do so, the prosecutor highlighted.

Chan also has five compounded driving offences between 2007 and 2015, including parking and speeding offences. However, the prosecution accepted that these offences be given limited weight as they are relatively dated.

Accused is distinguished officer with long track record: Defence

In mitigation, Chan's defence lawyer said that Chan is a distinguished officer with a long track record in public service, according to ST.

The lawyer added that Chan is remorseful for what he did and "is taking responsibility by pleading guilty".

The defence lawyer also highlighted that there was no actual harm done, as Chan did not lose control, crash or cause any injury or damage.

On May 14, Chan was sentenced to two weeks' jail, fined S$5,000, disqualified from driving for three years, ST reported.

Top image from Singapore Police Force/Facebook & via court documents