Restaurant owner who slid under car to prevent towing being investigated

Picture from social media

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A 60-year-old restaurant owner who slid under his car to stop the local council from towing his car away, is being investigated for obstructing a public servant from carrying out his duty.

Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) officers and a number of policemen had to pull him out from under his son’s gold Mercedes Benz in Jalan Danby here on Thursday.

In their police report, MPSP officers said they spotted the car parked at the motorcycle parking lot in front of the man’s restaurant at about 11.30am.

They said one of the officers blew his whistle thrice for the vehicle to be removed and proceeded to lock the tyre when there was no response.

They said the restaurant owner appeared angry and said he did not want to pay the compound to have the car tyre unlocked.

“He was told that his car will be towed to the MPSP office in Jalan Betik but he still refused to pay. The officer subsequently called for a tow truck at 2.40pm.

“The man then slid himself under the car to prevent it from being towed away. He was forcefully removed by the policemen and taken to the Bukit Mertajam police station,” they added in their report. 

Central Seberang Prai OCPD Asst Comm Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said police and MPSP tried to advise the man to come out from under the car but he refused.

“Several witnesses said he was rude with the MPSP officers and prevented them from carrying out their duties,” he said.

The restaurant owner has been released on police bail and the case, under Section 186 of the Penal Code, will be referred to the state deputy public prosecutor’s office for further action.

MPSP councillor Michael Tan said there were signboards in the area warning motorists that this was a towing zone.

“The MPSP enforcement personnel are tasked to carry out their duties and I would like to urge motorists to deal with such situations in a tactful manner as this kind of behaviour will not resolve anything.

“If found guilty the man could be jailed up to two years or fined up to RM10,000,” he added.