SINGAPORE, Oct 19 — A 54-year-old man yesterday (October 18) claimed trial to a charge of causing the death of a police officer in a traffic accident more than three years ago.
Andrew Charles Vasko, a Singapore permanent resident from the United States, is accused of failing to keep a proper lookout while behind the wheel of his Aston Martin car.
He then allegedly failed to give way to Salinah Mohamed, who was walking across a pedestrian crossing, while making a right turn into Shenton Way in the Central Business District (CBD) area on February 10, 2019.
He faces a single charge of causing Salinah’s death by a negligent act. No details on his defence were given in open court.
Salinah, who had been a police officer for more than two decades and held the rank of Staff Sergeant, was walking to the MRT station after work at the Marina Bay Neighbourhood Police Centre when the accident occurred.
The 40-year-old mother of three young children suffered severe head injuries and was found unconscious at the scene.
She ultimately died at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) four days later after she was taken off life support.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Stacey Fernandez took the court through some facts agreed between the prosecution and defence.
Dashcam footage of the accident from Vasko’s vehicle was also played in court. The weather was fine, the road surface was dry and traffic flow was light at the time.
Vasko admitted to drinking two glasses of white wine at Sentosa on the evening of the accident. He last drank around 7.45pm.
At 9.23pm, Vasko stopped his car at the signalised junction of Shenton Way on the extreme right turning lane. The traffic light was red at the time.
When it turned green in his favour with no green arrow, he moved his vehicle to the middle of the junction and stopped to wait for an opportunity to make a discretionary right turn.
He then turned right into Shenton Way towards Keppel Road when the traffic light signal was green, before colliding with Salinah. She was midway through crossing the road while the green man was blinking in her favour.
DPP Fernandez told the court that Vasko did not slow down when heading towards Salinah.
As a result of the collision, Salinah was flung onto the road and sustained severe head injuries, including multiple skull fractures and bleeding in her brain.
She underwent an operation at SGH before being declared brain-dead on the morning on Feb 14, 2019.
Vasko underwent and passed a breathalyser test after the accident.
Video footage from a Land Transport Authority eye-junction camera showed that immediately after the accident, Vasko stopped his car in the extreme left lane near a bus stop before alighting and rushing over to Salinah.
No witnesses were called to testify yesterday.
A judge gave Vasko permission to travel overseas from today to January 15 next year. No details on his destination were given in open court. Vasko is on bail of S$10,000.
A pre-trial conference will be held next month to determine future trial dates.
If convicted of causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Vasko could be jailed for up to two years or fined, or punished with both.
He is defended by Remy Choo and Carol Yuen from Remy Choo Chambers LLC.
The New Paper reported that Vasko was the director of two companies until April 2019, a couple of months after the traffic incident. The two firms are oil and gas extraction engineering consultant IHS Global and petrochemical consulting company Chemical Market Associates. ― TODAY
