Lifeguards tie peeping Tom to pole outside pool

Lifeguards tie peeping Tom to pole outside pool
Man had allegedly filmed teens in Kallang swimming pool shower
June 06, 2008

THE two teenagers were in the women's changing room at a swimming complex.


Lifeguard Matthew Yeo shows how two of his colleagues jumped over the shoulder-height fence surrounding the pool in pursuit of the alleged peeping Tom.

Suddenly, one of them saw a man. And he was filming them.

They raised the alarm and a suspect was caught and handed over to the police.

But not before he struggled so violently that he had to be tied up.

The incident happened at the Kallang Basin Swimming Complex around noon on Monday.

It is not clear exactly where the man was.

When the girls saw him, they reported the matter to lifeguard Elangovan Veerapan.

SPRINGING INTO ACTION
The 40-year-old jumped into action immediately.

He has since left on an overseas trip and could not be contacted.

A member of the public who was there called The New Paper, and we spoke to Mr Elangovan's colleagues.


TNP Pictures: KELVIN CHNG

According to them, he searched the premises immediately and spotted a suspicious-looking person loitering near the entrance of the complex.

After confirming with the two victims that he was the man they were looking for, Mr Elangovan approached the suspect.

The man, however, made a run for it.

Mr Matthew Yeo, 44, another lifeguard who was on duty at the time, said he dashed across from his duty post to assist.

They were joined by a third colleague, Mr Mohammad Salleh, who oversees the complex's operations.

Mr Yeo said: 'Hoping to escape, the man leapt over the fence that surrounds the premises. My colleagues followed suit in an attempt to pin him down.'

As it is the regulation of the Singapore Sports Council to have a lifeguard on duty watching over pool users at all times, Mr Yeo remained behind the fence.

Mr Yeo, who described the suspect as 'lanky', said: 'He was hard to pin down because of this.

'It resulted in a tussle on the ground and things got rather rough.'

Three young men, who were undergoing a life-saving test at that time, also got out from the pool to assist the lifeguards.

The alleged peeping Tom was finally subdued.

The men then used a rope to tie the suspect to a pole as he refused to be taken back into the complex.

DETAINED
Another person, who had been conducting the life-saving test at the pool, called the police at 12.40pm.

Mr Yeo said: 'The teenage girls were shaken by the whole incident.

'All the while, they had been sitting upset in a corner while the rest of us tried to nab the suspect.'

The police arrived, took down statements from the victims and took the suspect away.

Mr Yeo reassured patrons of the swimming complex that the premises are safe.

'The toilet cleaners are always around,' he said. 'We lifeguards patrol the place too.'

Mr William Sim, 30, assistant centre manager of the Kallang Basin Sports and Recreation Centre, who has been working at the complex for the past year, also stressed that safety is well taken care of.

He said: 'We always have our lifeguards around at different points in the complex to ensure the safety of our patrons because we want them to have a safe and enjoyable experience.'

The police confirmed that one of the girls had complained of a man filming them in the changing room.

They said a suspect, who is in his late 20s, has been detained.

He is being investigated for criminal trespass.