Drunk Driver Crashes into Street Stall and Flees on Foot... Caught After 1 Hour

Police Stop Notice Ignored, Suspect Flees
Apprehended in Apartment Hallway... License Cancellation Level

Nowon Police Station, Seoul. Photo by Asia Economy Database

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyoon Song and Jeongyun Lee] A man in his 40s who caused an accident by hitting a street stall while driving under the influence and then abandoned his vehicle to flee has been apprehended by the police.

According to the police on the 7th, the Nowon Police Station in Seoul has booked Mr. A on charges of drunk driving and failure to take action after an accident under the Road Traffic Act and is conducting an investigation.

Mr. A is suspected of driving under the influence around 3:30 a.m. on the 4th near Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, where he crashed into a street stall and roadside trees on the sidewalk, then abandoned his vehicle and fled to a nearby apartment complex.

The police saw Mr. A’s vehicle swerving and signaled him to stop, but he ignored the order and fled for about 10 minutes. After the accident occurred, he abandoned the vehicle and hid in the apartment. After about an hour of searching, the police caught Mr. A in the apartment hallway. At the time, his blood alcohol concentration was found to be at the license cancellation level.

A police official stated, "We plan to summon Mr. A soon to investigate the exact circumstances of the incident."