Director of Hong Kong charity arrested on suspicion of assaulting taxi driver
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 28 January, 2015, 4:59pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 29 January, 2015, 3:09am
Clifford Lo [email protected]
Andrew Wells, pictured here in a file photo, was released without charge. Photo: Edward Wong
Former deputy secretary for housing Andrew Wells was arrested on Tuesday night after he was accused of assaulting a taxi driver in Central who refused to take him where he wanted to go.
But the ex-official has been released from custody and faces no charges, police said.
The incident happened after Wells, 58, and his wife flagged down a taxi on Ice House Street outside the Mandarin Oriental hotel shortly before 11pm and told the driver they wanted to go to Kowloon.
The couple got into the cab but got out when the taxi driver, 45, told them he did not want to go across the harbour.
A dispute ensued, during which Wells is accused of kicking the back of the taxi and assaulting the driver.
"During the dispute, he was accused of grabbing the neck of the taxi driver with his hand before he left with his wife," a police source said.
The taxi driver gave chase, stopped Wells and then called police.
A police spokeswoman said officers arrested a 58-year-old expatriate man for common assault and criminal damage.
She said the driver sustained minor neck injuries, but did not require hospital treatment.
The taxi driver later told police he did not want to pursue the case, according to another police source, who said Wells was released unconditionally and there would be no further investigation into the incident.
Wells joined the Hong Kong government as an administrative officer in 1978. He has been secretary to the Education Commission, founder director of the Open Learning Institute, now the Open University, a member of the Central Policy Unit and Kwai Tsing district officer before he was appointed deputy secretary of the Transport and Housing Bureau when it was formed in 1995.
He now serves as a director of the Por Yen Charitable Foundation. He is also a senior corporate consultant for property giant Lai Sun Development Company and an adviser to Furama Hotels and Resorts.
