A Public Security Police (PSP) officer has been arrested for refusing to take a breathalyser after being suspected of drunk driving (DUI), PSP spokesman Cheong Heon Fan said in a regular press conference yesterday.
The suspect surnamed Choi is a 36-year-old male who joined the Public Security Police in 2008.
According to Cheong, on Sunday at around 1 a.m., patrolling officers saw Choi driving a car with no headlights on and travelling in the wrong direction of the one-way Rua de Évora in Taipa. The officers then intercepted the car and smelt Choi reeking of alcohol.
Choi told the police officers that he’s a policeman and said that he had been drinking during a wedding banquet earlier that night, but he refused to undergo breath and blood alcohol tests.
Cheong said that Choi has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing disobedience charges, and he has been fined for driving the wrong way in a one-way street.
Cheong said that the police expressed regret over the incident and emphasised that they have always attached great importance to their personnel’s discipline, adding that they will handle this incident strictly.
The Office of the Secretary for Security (GSS) said in a statement yesterday that the Court of First Instance (TJB) had already found the suspect guilty, handing out a sentence of four months behind bars, suspended for two years, and banned him from driving for five months. The statement also said that disciplinary proceedings about the case have been launched.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Cheong Heon Fan looks on during yesterday’s regular press conference. – Photo: William Chan
