Bentley driver in viral school incident charged with injuring security officer; son allegedly changed licence plate

SINGAPORE — The man who was caught on video trying to drive his Bentley into Red Swastika School when a security officer was standing in front of his car four months ago was hauled to court on Wednesday (May 11) along with his son.

Neo Hong Chye, 61, was charged with one count each of causing hurt to security guard Neo Ah Whatt by a rash act, and driving without third-party insurance coverage.

His son Glynn Neo Jia, 28, was allegedly the real owner of the car and had changed its number plate, said the police and Land Transport Authority in a joint news release on Tuesday evening.

He faces one charge each of altering the car's licence plate number and permitting the older Neo to use a vehicle without insurance coverage.

TODAY’s checks showed that the younger man owns a general contractor firm called JXC Logistics.

The older Neo is a director of Jia Xiu Contractors and a few other firms, including freight transporter Omni Global and civil engineering company Aquatemp, according to a business profile search.

The duo has not been named publicly till now, which is the norm in criminal cases.

A check on the Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s OneMotoring site showed that the Bentley Flying Spur’s road tax expired on Jan 12, the day after the incident.

The altered plate number belongs to a Range Rover.

The incident made headlines in January when video footage of Neo Hong Chye’s purported actions at the primary school in Bedok North circulated online.

In the footage, the driver can be seen inching his Bentley car forward against the security officer outside the school entrance.

This was despite attempts by the officer and a school staff member to prevent the car from entering the compound.

A staff member then spoke to a passenger of the vehicle, who was outside the car. After the passenger got into the vehicle, the driver inched the vehicle forward, forcing the security officer to move backwards.

Court documents showed that the incident happened at about 7.30am, causing the security officer to "sustain pain in his right knee".

The police then arrested the driver at about 3.35pm for rash act causing hurt.

The Union of Security Employees’ general secretary, Mr Raymond Chin, previously told TODAY that the driver had a valid pass to enter the school but jumped the queue to try to enter the compound via an entrance where the security guard was controlling traffic.

Mr Chin said that this caused some unhappiness among motorists waiting in front, so the driver then tried to enter via an exit gate next to the entrance. The security officer stood there to prevent him from going into the compound.

Last month, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told Parliament that the police had completed their probe into the case and had referred the matter to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

On Wednesday, the duo's lawyer asked for time to make representations to the prosecution.

District Judge Lorraine Ho offered the older Neo bail of S$15,000. Both will return to court for a pre-trial conference on June 24.

If convicted of committing a rash act causing hurt, Neo Hong Chye can be jailed up to one year or fined up to S$5,000, or both.

Anyone found to have altered a vehicle’s licence plate number may face a jail term of up to one year or be fined up to S$5,000, or both, under the Road Traffic Act.

Those convicted of using or permitting the use of a vehicle without insurance can be jailed up to three months or fined up to S$1,000, or punished with both.

Offenders will also be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period of 12 months from the date of the conviction.

Separately, last month, the driver of a BMW car was charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt to another security officer at United Square mall late last year. Wang Lin allegedly pushed the officer, who fell and broke his wrist.