ITE student, 20, rents car without licence, hits motorbike in Clementi, tries to flee, gets arrested on the spot

A 20-year-old Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student in Singapore faced 14 charges, including trespassing, voyeurism and negligent driving after he drove a car without a licence and took a video of a classmate in the toilet.

Chen Jie Yang (transliteration), pleaded guilty to six of the charges on Jul. 8 and the remaining charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Rented a car to practice for his driving test

According to Shin Min, Chen was in the midst of getting his driver's licence at the time of the incident.

He had obtained a Provisional Driving Licence (PDL) and was scheduled to take his driving test on Jun. 24, 2024.

Sometime prior to Apr. 28, 2024, Chen met a man while playing billiards.

The man told Chen that he could rent him a car for S$60 a day, despite knowing that Chen did not have a driving licence.

Chen thought that he could use the car to improve his driving skills before his driving test, so he agreed to rent the car for three days from Apr. 28 to 30, 2024.

The man instructed Chen to put the rental fee under a tree, and arranged for someone to drive the car to Block 725 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.

The car keys were left on the tyre.

Got into a car accident

Chen picked up the car on Apr. 28, 2024 afternoon, and proceeded to drive it to school the next day.

At around 5pm on Apr. 29 2024, Chen drove his friend, 17, from Choa Chu Kang Avenue to Choa Chu Kang Road, passing Upper Bukit Timah Road, Pan Island Expressway (PIE), Clementi Avenue 6 and Commonwealth Avenue, before driving back to Clementi Avenue 3.

At 5:36pm, he drove out of a car park and attempted to make a right turn onto Clementi Avenue 3.

However, he failed to notice a motorcycle approaching from his right and ended up colliding with it near Block 433 Clementi Avenue 3.

The motorcyclist, 36, fell off his motorcycle and sustained injuries to his right hand, left knee and right thigh.

The motorcycle was also damaged and cost S$2,500 to repair.

Tried to escape

Chen told the motorcyclist that he was willing to compensate for the damages and hoped to settle the matter privately.

However, the motorcyclist refused and insisted on calling the police.

In a bid to escape, Chen secretly got back into the car and drove away.

Another motorcyclist who was passing by managed to catch up with Chen and stopped him.

He also asked a nearby police officer for assistance.

Meanwhile, the motorcyclist who was hit had also called the police.

Chen was subsequently arrested on the spot for driving without a licence.

Filmed classmate with special needs

While Chen was out on bail, he filmed a classmate with special needs using the toilet in school and sent the video to his friends.

The incident occurred on Nov. 12, 2024.

The victim, 22, had gone to the toilet to relieve himself, and made noises due to constipation.

Chen and his friend, who happened to be in the toilet to wash their hands, heard the noises.

They laughed at the victim and Chen put his mobile phone into the toilet cubicle where the victim was using the toilet to secretly film him.

The victim screamed to scare Chen away.

Chen ran out of the toilet and sent the video to a friend.

He also took a screenshot and made it into a WhatsApp sticker and sent it to another friend to mock the victim.

When the victim returned to class, he told the teacher about the incident, and the school called the police.

Chen was arrested on the same day.

The court ordered a reformative training suitability report for the offender.

The case has been adjourned to Aug. 19 for sentencing.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News & Google Maps