Elderly man kicked in face in melee over cigarette butts at Hougang coffee shop, 2 arrested for affray

Another reason smoking is harmful.

Two men were arrested for affray after a fight broke out over cigarette butts in a Hougang coffee shop on Friday (June 16).

A video circulating online at first shows an elderly man sitting on the floor looking dazed being helped by two women and another woman confronting another man before it turned into a violent tussle over the elderly man.

At one point, he was kicked in the face by a man in a green shirt before being pulled out of the scrum. The elderly man then staggered to his feet and walked away as the green-shirt man was held back.

Meanwhile, the other people in the coffee shop just looked on.

 

 

 

 

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A description for the video said that the incident took place in Kimly Eating House at Block 327 Hougang Avenue 5 at 9pm.

The fight purportedly started after someone at a table threw away a cigarette butt indiscriminately. One party hit another with "a chair and shoe".

In response to a Stomp query, the police said they were alerted to the fight at 9.05pm.

Two men, aged 53 and 63, were arrested for affray and were conscious when taken to the hospital, added police.

When contacted by Stomp, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at about 9:15pm.

"SCDF assessed three persons for minor injuries. Two persons were conveyed to Sengkang General Hospital. The third person declined to be sent to the hospital," said SCDF.

One of the women involved in the altercation told Shin Min Daily News that she and her siblings took their 86-year-old mother to the coffee shop and sat in the corner. After their meal, she and her siblings smoked and threw the cigarette butts onto the grass.

Another customer said that his friend approached the siblings twice to persuade them to throw their cigarette butts into the bin, but they said that if he was unhappy, he could report it to the police.

"They also said that they had enough money and could pay the fine," the customer told Shin Min.

The woman said that she did not provoke the other party, but after the other party spoke to them, some people lifted a table and attacked her brother. The customer said that the woman and her party attacked them first with chairs and shoes.

Police investigations are ongoing.