Lawyer who allegedly lay on car bonnet during East Coast Road altercation charged with harassment

Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
September 7, 2023

A cyclist who was employed as a lawyer when she was allegedly engaged in a fracas with a motorist in East Coast Road was charged with harassment on Thursday.

Nicolette Tan Shi-en, 32, is accused of stopping her bicycle in front of Elaine Michele Ow’s car between 3pm and 3.30pm on June 2.

Tan is then said to have aggressively confronted Ow, 49, and opened a door of the car, causing alarm to Ow.

A 39-second video uploaded onto a Facebook page in June shows a female cyclist obstructing a grey car in East Coast Road, near the junction of Joo Chiat Road.

Other drivers can be heard sounding their car horns as the cyclist, wearing a yellow top and blue helmet, speaks on the phone while blocking the car.

She is seen on the car’s bonnet moments later.

The car then moves towards i12 Katong mall, with the cyclist clinging on to the vehicle as her shouts are heard in the distance.

Besides being charged with harassment, Tan is also accused of using her body to block Ow’s car from moving, causing vehicles behind it to be obstructed.

On June 7, Tan and Ow were each charged with one count of committing a rash act to endanger the personal safety of others.

Ow is said to have performed a rash act by driving her car forward while Tan was allegedly lying on its bonnet.

The pre-trial conferences for the women will take place on Oct 6.

Tan’s charge over the purported rash act was withdrawn on Thursday, and she was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal for it.

This means she cannot be charged again with the same offence.

The reasons behind the withdrawal of the charge were not disclosed in court.

If convicted of harassment, Tan can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $5,000.

Her particulars could not be found following a search on lawyers on the Ministry of Law’s website on Thursday.

For causing obstruction to others, an offender can be fined up to $1,000.

For committing a rash act to endanger the safety of others, an offender can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,500.