A police warrant to detain a taxi driver in his 70s who caused a rear-end crash near Jonggak Station in Seoul that left 15 people dead or injured was rejected on the 5th.
After holding a pretrial detention hearing for a taxi driver in his late 70s, a person surnamed Lee, on this day, Seoul Central District Court Director General for warrants Jeong Jae-uk rejected the warrant.
The court said, "The occurrence of the accident and its result are substantiated," but added, "However, given the mileage at the time of the accident and Lee's condition, there is room to dispute the part that Lee took the drug listed in the warrant request or that the accident occurred due to drug use."
It went on to say, "It is difficult to rule out the possibility that the accident occurred for the reasons asserted by the defense," explaining that it rejected the warrant based on factors including a fixed residence and no concerns about destruction of evidence or flight.
Earlier, on the 2nd at 6 p.m., Lee was driving an electric taxi near Jonggak Station when a multi-vehicle collision occurred, killing a female pedestrian in her 40s and injuring 14 people, including Lee. A rapid drug test conducted immediately after the crash detected morphine in Lee's system.
Police applied charges including death or injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, drugged driving under the Road Traffic Act, and death or injury by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and requested an arrest warrant the day before.
Lee appeared in court in the afternoon for the warrant review. When reporters asked, "Did you drive after taking prescription medication?" and "Do you have anything to say to the victim and the bereaved family?", Lee did not answer and headed to the courtroom.