17-year-old girl breaches home detention, arrested after car crashes into prison van

A 17-year-old girl who broke her home detention curfew was arrested alongside a 22-year-old man after they crashed into a Singapore Prison Service (SPS) vehicle while leaving the carpark. 

A video and picture seen by AsiaOne on Aug 1 shows a collision between a yellow car and a grey, unmarked van near a multistorey carpark at Yishun Street 22.

Jeffrey Kuan, the resident who had captured the video, told AsiaOne that he heard a loud bang from his window at about 9.30pm on July 31.

Upon looking out, he saw "plainclothes officers" dragging a woman — seemingly in handcuffs —to a grey van as she resisted.

Several police cars arrived at the scene soon after, and officers were conducting checks, said the 28-year-old.

Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) confirmed that a 17-year-old girl and a 22-year-old man had been arrested in the vicinity of Blk 269A and 269B Yishun Street 22.

The teen had been admitted to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre on Oct 16, 2024 for drug consumption and was placed under home detention on June 6 this year.

Suitable inmates are placed on community-based programmes (CBP), such as home detention, at the tail-end of their incarceration to help them reintegrate back into society.

The girl was electronically tagged and required to observe curfew hours, be gainfully employed or studying and report to SPS regularly for urine testing and counselling, according to the prison service.

On July 17, 2025, she breached her curfew and did not return to her residence. When she was recalled to assist in investigations regarding this incident, the teen also failed to report to SPS. 

As such, her CBP order was cancelled.

On July 31 at about 9.30pm, acting on information received, SPS officers spotted the teen and a man exiting a carpark in a yellow vehicle. 

Their car collided with the prison vehicle carrying the SPS officers in their attempt to leave.

SPS arrested the teen at about 9.40pm and called the Singapore Police Force for assistance.

Her 22-year-old male companion was arrested by the police for rash conduct with his vehicle and endangering human life, driving without a licence, and other offences. No one was hurt during the incident. 

SPS stated that investigations are ongoing.

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The article has been edited for clarity.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com