Going to Johor Bahru (JB) this weekend to stock up on groceries and eat some good seafood? Be careful you don't get tricked into a car accident, chased down an expressway and potentially robbed, like Coconuts Singapore reader 'Mr. R'.



Read about his harrowing experience on Sept. 9:



"Dear editor,



I'd like to share the experience I had with my family when we were last in JB for a shopping trip.



My stepfather, mother, wife and myself, arrived at Aeon Bukit Indah at about 3pm. I parked my red Hyundai Getz at their open-air carpark and went into the mall. At about 8:30pm, we returned to the car.



I reversed slowly after checking that the road was clear through the rear view mirrors and signalling my intentions. Suddenly, a black Mercedes with the registration number BKA1666 rushed into the back of my car, hitting it. The vehicle then moved to the front of my car and stopped. Everyone in my family alighted to inspect the damage. My car had only suffered slight scratches on the bumper and there were no dents visible. But to my astonishment, the damage on the old black Mercedes was bad — it had multiple deep dents and even scratches from his bumper past the solid metal body right to the back of the car. I immediately became suspicious — his damage did not tally with mine at all.

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Photo: Damage on Mr. R's Hyundai Getz compared to that of the black Mercedes

The young Malay driver — about 21 years of age — said he was trying to avoid another Singapore car that had suddenly zoomed to his front, which was why he'd swerved the Mercedes towards our vehicle. He also said his 'brother', who was with him, was busy talking on the phone to get help for the car. His brother looked to be only about eight years old. (We found out later that the boy was actually part of a gang, and they were planning how best to rob us! Also, the car did not belong to either of them, it had a Chinese owner.)



They asked us to follow them to a police station to file a report and we agreed, but as we were running empty, we asked to stop at a nearby petrol kiosk first. We finally left the Aeon carpark slightly after 9pm, but then our ticket exit time had expired and we couldn't come out at the gantry.



Out of nowhere, three overtly friendly ah bengs came to help us exit the gantry. They eventually removed the bar so we could drive out, but before we did, one of them reminded to wait for the car behind me.



How did he know about the accident?



I didn't think too much of it, but whilst waiting for the Mercedes to leave the carpark I noticed a white car in the area. I later found out the white car carried the three 'helpful strangers'.



After pumping petrol, I followed the Mercedes away from Bukit Indah and onto the highway towards Gelang Patah. I signalled for him to stop at the road shoulder because I knew there was a police station in Bukit Indah itself. To my amazement, an additional two cars, the earlier white car with the three ah bengs and a red Kancil, stopped with him.



At least four people exited their vehicles and headed towards my car. I tried to explain to them that I wanted to go to a police station nearby, but they didn't like the idea. Fearing for my family's safety, I drove towards the Second Link. They gave chase.



What happened next was the most disturbing driving experience of my life. Halfway towards the Second Link, the Mercedes came up beside me (I was driving at the right lane at around 110km/h) and signalled for me to stop. I told them I wanted to make the report at the Second Link instead, but the driver disagreed, eventually overtaking me. He started to brake for us to stop, but I swerved to the left. He did the same and I ended up sandwiched between him and the white car, which had come up to our right. We were forced to a stop at the road shoulder and two men rushed toward our car, one of them an ah beng called Alan. They looked really aggressive. I felt I had to get out of the situation, so I reversed the car towards the on-coming traffic behind us, constantly sounding the horn.

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