Man accused of punching Singapore jazz singer Dawn Ho resigns from company
[UPDATE on Tuesday, 11 March at 6:20pm: Adding detail about alleged attacker resigning from company]
A man who has been named by local jazz singer Dawn Ho for allegedly punching her at Sentosa on Sunday night has resigned from his company, said his former employer.
In a statement posted as a comment on its Facebook page, Tadcaster Hospitality, the parent company of restaurant and bar The Exchange, announced that one of its marketing executives, Aaron Jeremiejczk, had resigned within the day, after news had emerged of his alleged attack on her.
An initial statement from the company showed that Tadcaster was opening an investigation into the incident and putting him on suspension pending its outcome, as well as that of the police. Hours later, however, it posted the announcement in a follow-up comment on the same post.
On Monday night, Ho wrote an account of the alleged attack on her Facebook page, saying she came away from it with a swollen face and a bleeding nose. In her status, accompanied by a photo of Jeremiejczk, she said she and her friend were attacked by a man and a woman while he and her other bandmate were picking her up from a taxi stand.
She said she witnessed the man and his two friends -- one female, one male -- approaching a limousine taxi and speaking to the driver and the limousine staff rudely.
"(They shouted) in the most demeaning way to the cab driver and limo service personnel, complaining about the $43 per trip fee of the limo and telling the limo service staff, 'you are MY b***h!' repeatedly," she wrote.
Ho said she then went up to the trio to inform them that she felt they should not be speaking to the driver in that manner, but was met with vulgarity and verbal abuse from one of the two men, who started chasing Ho as she moved toward her bandmates' car.
The man's female friend also stepped out of the limousine, brandishing a beer bottle, and "tried to get violent" with Ho, she wrote, adding that the beer bottle landed on Ho's guitarist and friend Munir Alsagoff, who had gotten out of his car to restrain the woman.
"While my friends were trying to restrain her, (the man who was shouting abuse at Ho) came up to the car, which I was already in, and punched me in my face and gave me a bloody nose," she wrote. "Which his response to was, 'Why did you punch yourself?'... when he saw that he had made me bleed he showed no remorse. Even when I announced I was gonna call 999 right away."
Ho said she spoke to the police, got into an ambulance and took X-rays at a hospital, adding that the bleeding from her nose only stopped late Monday morning -- the next day. She also said she has since filed a police report against him, hoping the police will either take action against him or she would file a civil suit against him for voluntarily causing hurt.
She also revealed the name of her attacker, who was listed on Facebook as Aaron Jeremiejczyk. After going public with details about the attack and his picture, the latter took his Facebook profile down, although he is understood to have worked with drink brand Red Bull previously.
Ho's Facebook post is also travelling quickly, clocking in more than 450 shares by Tuesday afternoon since she posted it on Monday night.
On Tuesday, users tracked down Jeremiejczk's employer, restaurant and bar The Exchange, where he works as a marketing executive, and informed its management of what he allegedly did.
"We wish to highlight that the alleged incident occurred when Mr Jeremiejczk was (in) Sentosa during his day off from work," the statement said. "Any alleged actions taken by Mr Jeremiejczk were in a purely personal capacity."
The investigation the company initially opened up into his conduct has since been closed, they subsequently said.
"The management of Tadcaster Hospitality (the parent company of The Exchange) sends its sincerest heartfelt concerns to Ms Ho and wishes her a speedy recovery from her physical and mental hurt," it added in its initial response.
Yahoo Singapore has reached out to Ho for more information.
