"'Dog Hit-and-Run' Excuse: 'Just Looking Is Sexual Harassment, The World Is Dangerous' [Seocho-dong Legal Talk]"

"The defendant's behavior is strange. People were murmuring near the victim and the accident scene, so how could he just go home like that? (Judge)"

"These days, even just looking at someone can be related to sexual harassment..." (Defendant)

This is the excuse of a man facing a criminal trial for a ‘dog hit-and-run’ incident. He claims, "At the time of the accident, I saw the dog owner shouting, but I didn’t realize my car had run over the dog."

The photo is unrelated to the article content. [Image source=Pixabay]

On September 20, 2021, at 8 p.m., Mr. A was driving a Mercedes-Benz passenger car and entered an apartment complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, when he ran over a dog belonging to Ms. B, who was crossing the crosswalk, with both the front and rear wheels. Despite Ms. B’s screams, Mr. A stopped for only 7 to 8 seconds in front of the parking barrier but did not get out of the car and proceeded into the underground parking lot.

The dog was taken to an animal hospital emergency room but died. The accident scene was cleaned up by Ms. B and other residents. After confirming the accident vehicle at the apartment management office, Ms. B tried to contact Mr. A, but he did not respond. Mr. A parked his car in the parking lot and watched the situation from a distance before reporting the accident to the insurance company. The prosecution filed a summary indictment against Mr. A for ‘failure to take action after an accident’ under the Road Traffic Act. When the court issued a summary order imposing a fine of 2.5 million won, he requested a formal trial.

The first trial sentenced him to a fine of 2.5 million won, stating that "he must have recognized the accident, at least implicitly." The court noted, "The black box footage was shaky, and the victim screamed. Mr. A stopped and saw the victim’s startled expression in the side mirror," adding, "If he had gotten out of the car to check directly, he would have known about the dog accident, but he just left."

Mr. A appealed. At a recent hearing held by the 4-2 Criminal Appeals Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Tae-woo), his lawyer argued, "It was a dark night, and the dog was a small, dark-colored breed, so it was not visible. Mr. A thought Ms. B was simply picking a fight without reason," and added, "If he had intended to flee, he would have gone somewhere farther than the underground parking lot." Mr. A also defended himself, saying, "There are so many unpleasant incidents in the world that I didn’t want to get involved at all," and "These days, even just looking at someone can be related to sexual harassment, so I was worried about misunderstandings."

The judge asked, "If you did nothing wrong, what does that have to do with unpleasant incidents? Wouldn’t that be a reason to stop even more?" Mr. A replied, "I also have a dog. If I had known an accident happened, I would never have just passed by."

The judge concluded the appeal hearing and decided to hold the second trial sentencing hearing on the 22nd of next month.