An active-duty police officer accused of trying to switch drivers by leaving the scene after a traffic accident and having his wife turn herself in instead has been sent to prosecutors.
The Gwangju Seobu Police Station said on the 4th it sent Inspector A, assigned to a frontline police station in Gwangju, without detention on charges including leaving the scene of an accident causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and aiding and abetting a suspect's escape.
Inspector A is accused of driving a vehicle and colliding with a passenger car traveling in the adjacent lane on a road in Unam-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, at about 11 p.m. on the 4th of last month, injuring the other driver and then leaving the scene.
Inspector A is also accused of bringing his wife to the police station after the accident and having her falsely turn herself in as if she had been the one driving.
In fact, Inspector A's wife went to the police station and said she had driven the car involved in the accident. However, the vehicle's point of departure and route confirmed by police did not match her account, revealing signs of a driver swap.
During the police investigation, once it was confirmed that the wife's statement did not match the facts, Inspector A was said to have admitted that he had been driving.
Police conducted digital forensics on Inspector A's mobile phone, analyzed communications exchanged between the couple, and, based on that, identified indications that they attempted a driver swap.
It was reported that because the investigation of Inspector A took place two days after the accident, police were unable to administer a breath test to determine whether he had been drinking at the time.
Inspector A's wife was not charged with aiding a suspect's escape. The Criminal Act provides a special exception that does not punish relatives who harbor or help a suspect escape.
Police relieved Inspector A of duty on the 11th of last month.