Drunken lorry driver drags friend along road; utters vulgarities at cop during arrest
A man breached Covid-19 measures to drink with his friends in 2020 and, with his blood alcohol level more than double the prescribed limit, drove a lorry and dragged one of them along the road.
That same day, the man charged towards a police officer and uttered a slew of threatening and abusive words at another officer.
On Wednesday, K. Pradeep Ram, 41, was sentenced to 21 months and two weeks’ jail and fined $5,000. He was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.
He pleaded guilty to four charges, including one count of dangerous driving causing grievous hurt and another of using abusive words to a police officer.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said that on May 24, 2020, at around 9pm, Pradeep and his friend Pravin met at another friend’s house for dinner and drinks.
DPP Koh said the trio met up for a social purpose when they were not permitted to do so under measures put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 then.
At around 4.45am, Pradeep and Pravin left the house and Pradeep offered to take Pravin home using his company lorry, which was parked at a carpark in Chua Chu Kang.
It was not stated in court documents what job Pradeep held.
At the carpark, Pradeep and Pravin started tussling with each other while intoxicated. They pushed, wrestled and used road traffic cones to hit each other. Almost an hour later, Pravin lay down on a road hump at the carpark. Pradeep then started driving his lorry in a dangerous manner.
“He first collided into a construction barrier on the side of the road and kept going, and his lorry swayed from one side of the road to the other,” said DPP Koh.
Pradeep then drove to the hump that Pravin was lying on and, without slowing down or stopping, drove over the hump.
Pravin’s clothes got caught in the undercarriage of the lorry, and he was dragged along the road. The lorry made a round of the carpark and came to a stop at the exit gantry.
Responding to calls for assistance, police officers arrived and called an ambulance for Pravin.
He was later found to have suffered multiple injuries, including an ear laceration and large abrasions on his thighs, arms and chest. He also required skin grafts as a result of his injuries.
A breathalyser test was conducted on Pradeep, who was found to have 79 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the prescribed limit of 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.
When one of the police officers noticed Pradeep toppling over while sitting on a kerb, he was asked to lean against a structure at the gantry to avoid falling.
But Pradeep suddenly stood up and charged towards the officer. He was then restrained and handcuffed to a railing.
Pradeep then used threatening and abusive words towards another police officer, uttering a slew of vulgarities in Hokkien.
Seeking a jail term of 21 months and one week to 24 months and two weeks, DPP Koh said the lorry was driven directly over the victim, adding that it was fortuitous that he was not more seriously injured.
He noted that Pradeep was voluntarily intoxicated at the time of committing the offences and added: “The offender behaved in a belligerent manner when police engaged him in the aftermath of the incident, evincing a lack of remorse.”
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