A man in his 20s who drove the wrong way on a road while drunk, caused a non-contact traffic accident, and fled has been indicted.
The Criminal Division 2 of the Tongyeong Branch of the Changwon District Prosecutors Office (Director General Im Hong-seok) said on the 23rd that it detained and indicted a man in his 20s, identified as A, on charges including causing injury and fleeing under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
A is accused of driving the wrong way while drunk on a road in Yongnam-myeon, Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, at about 10 p.m. in August last year, causing a non-contact traffic accident and taking off.
At the time, a vehicle coming from the opposite direction made a sudden stop to avoid A's wrong-way vehicle, and a following vehicle crashed into it, leaving five people, including a driver in their 60s, seriously injured.
Immediately after the crime, A asked his mother to give a false statement, and it was confirmed that the mother falsely told police that she had been driving. A's mother avoided punishment under the kin special exception provision of the Criminal Act.
At first, police identified one victim and sent A to the prosecution without detention. However, prosecutors requested supplementary investigation into the number of victims and whether A had been drinking.
Police who reopened the investigation confirmed through medical record checks that there were five victims. By backtracking closed-circuit (CC) TV, they captured A leaving a bar and, by investigating acquaintances, also confirmed that A had been drinking. However, because A fled and asked his mother to make a false confession, they could not measure the exact blood alcohol concentration.
Prosecutors convened the Prosecution Citizens Committee, composed of citizens from academia, medicine, the media, and the arts, determined the case to be serious, directly detained A, and sent the case to trial. They also supported medical expenses for the severely injured victims through the victim support center within the prosecution.