Grass cutter remanded over death of man killed by car in high speed chase

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GEORGE TOWN: A 46-year-old grass cutter has been remanded for six days to assist in the investigation into the death of a 61-year-old man who was struck by a vehicle involved in a high speed car chase with the police.

Dressed in a white shorts and a pair of boots, the suspect arrived at the Magistrate’s Court here at around 10.20am on Wednesday (June 16).

Magistrate Eric Lau granted the remand until June 21.

The case will be investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and Section 186 for obstructing a civil servant from carrying out his duty, as well as Section 39 of the Arms Act 1960.

On Tuesday (June 15), stroke survivor Teoh Kar Hin was shuffling across the road when he was knocked down by a car in the middle of a high-speed police chase in Jalan Perak.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Soffian Santong said the suspect, who is the driver of the getaway car, was arrested in Batu Uban and found with three packs of substance believed to be heroin.

Police said the man was believed to have been high on drugs when the chase started from Jalan Datuk Keramat at 6.40am on Tuesday after two policemen on patrol spotted him behaving suspiciously at the P. Ramlee Road-Perak Road traffic lights junction.

“The victim was crossing the road on crutches. His body was flung around 10m to 15m after being hit by the car.

“The suspect continued speeding and even ran over the body.

“We’ve obtained security camera footage from a nearby shop as proof that he hit the victim,” said ACP Soffian, adding that police are now looking for Teoh’s next-of-kin.

During the chase, police managed to corner the vehicle in Jalan Batu Uban Dua and instructed the driver to surrender but he tried to ram one of the cops.

Police then fired two shots at the fleeing car, hitting the rear tyre and the front of the vehicle before apprehending the suspect.

ACP Soffian said the vehicle was registered to a rental car company in Bayan Lepas.

Initial police investigation also revealed that the suspect, from Kampung Melayu, Ayer Itam, is a grass cutter and has 16 prior offences related to drugs and other crimes in his criminal record.



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