A cabby who got assaulted after refusing to take a Caucasian man at North Canal Road on Monday (Sep 22) said he got sat on and was strangled by his 1.8-metre-tall attacker.
The cabby, identified as Chan Chuan Heng, 46, revealed that the moment "felt like a bear was sitting on (him)", reports The New Paper.
He said: “I could not shout for help properly as he had his hands around my neck for about 20 seconds."
The ComfortDelGro cabby said the confrontation, which lasted about three minutes, left him with a fractured left foot. Because of this, he will be unable to drive his taxi for the next month.
The incident happened on Monday at about 1am. Mr Chan had parked his taxi at a lot on North Canal Road, near Boat Quay.
He was feeling sick and had needed to use a restroom.
After locking his taxi, a man who looked to be Caucasian and about 1.8m tall approached his vehicle and tried to force open its rear door.
“He started to shout and insisted that I drive him to Upper East Coast Road. I told him to get another cab, but then he stepped forward and slapped me with his hands,” Mr Chan told Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.
The cabby claimed he did not retaliate and walked away as he smelled alcohol on the man and did not want the incident to escalate. But the man chased him for about 50m.
Mr Chan said he ran, but fell and hurt his palms.
He told TNP: “He then sat on my back and choked me, before passers-by came and shoved him off me.”
The cabby said the passers-by tried to detain the attacker, but he ran off before the police arrived.
A police spokesman said that they have established that a case of voluntarily causing hurt had occurred at the location and are investigating.