As a US Navy Seal, one is well-armed with the skill to defuse the most dangerous, life-threatening situations.
As a US Navy Seal, one is probably not supposed to bully a local taxi driver too.
An American student — and former member of the USA’s feared special operations force — has just been found guilty of punching a cabbie and hurling his walkie-talkie into the sea. 31-year-old Ian Damery Fitzgerald is appealing against his conviction and sentence of four weeks in jail and an $800 fine, The Straits Times reports.
On May 31 last year, 42-year-old Lim Chin Sheng had been driving his taxi along Marina Boulevard when Fitzgerald stood in the middle of the road to flag down a taxi. Together with his Singapore-based girlfriend, they got into the taxi — but Lim refused to move off as he did commit a traffic offence by picking up passengers at roads with double zigzag lines.
Lim got out the car, and the couple left the taxi as well. The girlfriend walked away without Fitzgerald. It was then that Lim saw the American taking his pouch from the front driver seat and asked him to return it.
Fitzgerald — who was drunk — slammed the door of the taxi on the cabby’s leg, and pushed him to the ground. Lim was subsequently pushed to the ground three more times. Fitzgerald walked away when Lim called the police.
Lim then tried to prevent him from leaving by pulling at his shirt, and the former Navy Seal simply punched the cab driver on the face. Lim’s mobile phone and walkie-talkie dropped as well — Fitzgerald threw the phone onto a grass patch while the walkie-talkie was tossed into Marina Bay. The determine taxi driver continued to follow Fitzgerald, who pushed him into a water fountain near OUE Tower.
The incident left Lim with bruises on his face, and was given five days of medical leave.
In court, Fitzgerald denied the hitting Lim — but the District Judge was having none of that shit. The “almost one-sided assault” on Lim were sustained and repeated, and were acted out of impulse.
Photo: Victor via Flickr
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