A woman was sentenced to five weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Jul 19) for attacking a cab driver with her shoe after she drunkenly puked in the car and refused to pay the full fare. Marie Antonette Buhain Llagas, a 41-year-old Filipina and Singapore permanent resident, was also fined $500 for only coughing up a portion of her taxi fare without a reasonable excuse.
According to The Straits Times, she paid 47-year-old taxi driver Chua Cheng Hwa $20 instead of the actual fare of $24.90 on Dec 21, 2105. It was late in the night of Dec 20 that the cabbie picked up Llagas along Mosque Street and drove her to a block of flats at Pasir Ris Drive 10.
The driver noticed the smell of alcohol once Llagas boarded his cab, and gave her a plastic bag in case she puked during the journey. She did so, but dropped the bag of vomit and ended up staining the seats and the floor mat. Chua told her he would have to send his car for cleaning, which would adversely affect his earnings that night, so Llagas offered to compensate him $50 and clean his vehicle.
However, once Llagas arrived at her block, she got out of the cab to meet her 48-year-old boyfriend without paying Chua a single cent. Chua chased after her for payment, and Llagas changed her mind about the $50 compensation, saying she would only pay the taxi fare and clean his taxi. The trio then went into the lift and headed up to the 15th floor to get the cleaning equipment.
Llagas went to her flat, and Chua went back down with her boyfriend to wait for her. It was after midnight when she appeared, sans cleaning equipment, and passed $20 to Chua before making a quick retreat with her boyfriend.
CCTV footage from the lift showed Chua asking Llagas for the remaining $4.90, but she dismissed his request. So Chua attempted to snap a photo of her, but Llagas swatted his phone away and hit him. The attack continued when she used her shoe to beat Chua.
It was then that a passer-by got involved and helped to shield Chua from her hits. Another passer-by stopped Llagas from chasing after Chua.
In court, it was noted that Chua did not suffer any serious injury, and that Llagas was remorseful when she apologized.
For causing hurt, Llagas could have been sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail and/or fined up to $5,000.
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