Caused a Vehicle Collision in Hwasun-SEO Last August
Also Suspected of Other Crimes Including Internet Fraud and Money Laundering
On the 1st, in a three-way intersection in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, a teenager driving a rental car without a license hit a woman in her 20s who was crossing the crosswalk, resulting in her death. The photo shows the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the accident scene. / Photo by Channel A broadcast capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] It has been revealed that the teenagers who were caught by the police after hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving a rental car without a license had previously been habitually driving without a license.
According to 'SBS' on the 12th, high school student A (18), who hit and killed a woman crossing the street at an intersection in Hwasun, Jeollanam-do on the 1st, was reported to have caused an accident while driving a rental car without a license even before this incident.
The police discovered this fact while tracking the rental history of the accident vehicle, which was rented by A's friend B, who was also in the rental car. It was revealed that B was the driver of the vehicle involved in a collision at an intersection in Hwasun in August.
Additionally, they habitually rented cars through brokers who lent vehicles, driving without licenses. According to closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage obtained by SBS, after the accident on the 1st, they were seen driving two other vehicles besides the accident vehicle.
Moreover, there are testimonies suggesting that B was involved in other crimes such as internet transaction fraud and money laundering besides unlicensed driving. A victim of the traffic accident caused by B in August told 'SBS' in an interview that "(B) said he was making money through illegal activities like money laundering and promised to compensate."
Meanwhile, A was arrested by the police on the 3rd on charges of causing death by negligent driving (under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling) after causing an accident while driving a rental car without a license.
A is accused of hitting and killing woman C, who was crossing a crosswalk, around 11:40 p.m. on the 1st on a two-lane one-way road in Hwasun-eup, Hwasun-gun, while driving a rental car without a license.
At the time, A fled about 20 km to Gwangju with four classmates but returned to the scene and surrendered to the police, leading to his detention. Police investigations revealed that A accessed a car-sharing application under someone else's name, rented the car, and caused the accident.
On the 5th, a petition urging strict punishment for the teenage driver and passengers involved in a hit-and-run accident was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. / Photo by Blue House National Petition Board
The family of C also called for strict punishment for A and the other passengers in the accident vehicle on the 5th.
On the same day, a petition titled "We demand strict punishment for the teenage driver and passengers who killed my 22-year-old nephew in a hit-and-run accident on Chuseok" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. The petitioner, who identified themselves as a relative of C, expressed anger, saying, "Our entire family had to spend the holiday in tears at the funeral because of my nephew's hit-and-run death."
They continued, "Watching the accident video, seeing how fast the (offending) vehicle was going, I get furious thinking about how much pain my nephew must have felt after being hit by such a car," adding, "I cannot understand why people committing crimes like rental car accidents are not properly punished just because they are minors, and why such incidents keep happening."
They urged, "Those who rented cars to high school students should receive the same punishment as hit-and-run offenders," and "The punishment for unlicensed driving should be strengthened to the same level as drunk driving." As of the 12th, the petition has surpassed 180,000 endorsements.
Meanwhile, the police are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident involving A and others.
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