Security officer fractures palm after BMW driver allegedly pushed him to the ground at United Square

SINGAPORE — A 56-year-old security officer suffered from a fractured palm and an injured back after getting into an alleged confrontation with a BMW driver outside United Square mall.

In the security officer’s police report seen by TODAY that had some details blocked out, he made a statement alleging that the driver almost knocked him over, before alighting and pushing him until he fell.

The incident was said to have happened at around noon on Nov 6 last year. 

It came to the public’s attention when the Union of Security Employees posted about it on its Facebook page on Wednesday (Feb 16).

When asked about the months-long interval between the incident and the social media post, the union’s executive secretary Steve Tan told TODAY that the officer approached the union only a few weeks ago to seek help “to get action taken on the perpetrator”.

Mr Tan confirmed that the security officer is still on medical leave — more than three months after the incident — without giving other details to avoid the “risk (of the officer) getting identified”.

The police report stated that the guard had worked as a senior security officer at the mall for about five years at the time of the incident.

While he was carrying out traffic control duties around the mall’s taxi stand, the BMW driver allegedly cut across traffic lanes illegally, defying the officer’s instructions and almost knocking him.

The officer wrote that the driver then alighted from the vehicle, approached him “aggressively” before allegedly pushing him and causing him to fall.

The driver was said to have fled in his car as soon as the guard mentioned that he would call the police.

The police confirmed with TODAY that investigations are ongoing.

In its Facebook post, the Union of Security Employees said that the security officer suffered a fracture on his palm and hurt his lower back. "(We are) assisting (the officer) on this and have also provided quick relief funds to him.” 

The incident is the second one involving abuse of security employees that have come to the public’s attention recently.

Last month, a 61-year-old male driver of a Bentley was arrested for acting rashly, following a viral video that shows the car inching forward against a security officer outside Red Swastika School in Bedok North.

A 62-year-old male security guard sustained minor injuries in that case.

Security guards interviewed by TODAY last month said that what happened outside Red Swastika School came as no surprise to them, because they frequently faced various forms of abuse during their course of duty.

In a statement to TODAY on Friday, Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA) president John Vijayan Vasavan said he was deeply saddened over the incident, stressing that abuses towards security officers cannot be tolerated.

“ACSA condemns such inappropriate and untoward behaviour towards a security officer who was deployed to keep the facility safe and secured,” he said.

“Our security officers are hired to serve the community and must be accorded the due respect.”