Teen biker linked to LTA officer’s fatal crash apologises to man's family

The teenager involved in a motorcycle chase that led to the death of a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer in 2024 has pleaded guilty to various charges.

Through his lawyer, the offender, now 19, also apologised to the family of the officer and retracted an earlier statement that he made saying he was “not to be blamed” for the officer’s death.

On Jan 10, the teen admitted to six charges, including riding a motorcycle in a dangerous manner and drug consumption.

Seven other charges will be taken into consideration during his sentencing on Jan 23.

The teen cannot be named, as he was 17 years old when he consumed methamphetamine. Those below 18 are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.

On June 4, 2024, the teen illegally rode a motorcycle along the Seletar Expressway in a dangerous manner to evade LTA enforcement officer Zdulfika Ahakasah, 26, who had ordered him to stop.

Mr Zdulfika crashed his motorcycle while chasing the teen and subsequently died in hospital.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Thaddeus Tan said the teen did not stop for the LTA officer despite being signalled to do so, as he knew he was wanted by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for a previous drug offence.

He also did not have a valid licence to ride the motorcycle, which belonged to his cousin.

Footage of the incident taken from the body-worn camera that Mr Zdulfika was wearing while on duty was played in court.

It showed Mr Zdulfika instructing the teen to stop at the side of the expressway, which he did. But a few seconds later, the teen sped up and suddenly cut into the path of an oil tanker and rode across the chevron marking of an expressway divider.

Pursuing the teen, Mr Zdulfika crashed into a road divider and was flung off his motorcycle.

While the footage was played, the teen, who has been in remand since June 2024, stared blankly into space.

DPP Tan said that even though the teen knew Mr Zdulfika had crashed his bike, he kept going and did not look back.

The prosecution added that the teen had demonstrated a clear lack of remorse, saying: “When he was first brought to court, he was given the chance to publicly express his thoughts over what had happened. Instead, he took the opportunity to deflect blame.”

 

On June 6, 2024, when the teen was first charged, he told the court: “I gambled my life as much as he gambled his. The death – I may be one of the contributing factors for the death, but I am not to be blamed.”

In mitigation, defence lawyer Foo Ho Chew said his client wanted to apologise for making that statement.

“He would like to say sorry to the family of the deceased, and he acknowledges that it was insensitive at that time. If there was a way, he would like to retract the statement,” said Mr Foo.

“He was only 18 then and was severely lacking in maturity. He did not have the state of mind to sense how wrong he was.”

DPP Tan said the teen was persistent in offending, having committed 13 offences in a span of 10 months, including the offence of riding a motorcycle in a dangerous manner.

He had also given his Singpass credentials to an unknown individual on Telegram who promised him a loan of $300. The teen did so as he needed money to support himself but could not do legitimate work as he was wanted by CNB.

Using the Singpass information, the unknown person created a Standard Chartered Bank account in the teen’s name and used it to receive and transfer out at least $299,867 in scam proceeds from a 70-year-old retiree. DPP Tan said the retiree lost more than $850,000 in total to scams.

The prosecution sought a total sentence of two years and 3½ to 5½ months’ jail, six strokes of the cane and a five-year disqualification order for the teen, noting: “When the accused was first caught for drug consumption, he chose to run. While on the run, he chose to commit a further offence to support himself, knowing that he could not turn to legitimate work for income.

“When he was caught by officer Zdulfika, he chose to run yet again and to put officer Zdulfika’s life at risk. Even after he was arrested and produced in court, he chose to argue that he is not to be blamed for officer Zdulfika’s death, revealing a shocking lack of remorse.

“His actions were not (the result of) a one-off lapse (in) judgment, given that each of these events could have been a turning point for the accused to take responsibility and to turn over a new leaf. Instead, he chose to commit further crimes.”

Mr Foo urged the court to not impose a sentence that would be so crushing on his client, adding that the teen, with strong support from his mother and sister, has potential to rehabilitate.