Police Appear Two Days After Escape Deny Drinking
Reverse Statement After CCTV Evidence of Drinking Presented
A driver who fled after hitting seven vehicles in Daejeon eventually admitted to drunk driving.
On the 27th, Yonhap News reported that the Daejeon Seobu Police Station conducted a suspect investigation on Mr. A (in his 50s), who was booked on charges of leaving the scene after an accident under the Road Traffic Act. During this investigation, Mr. A admitted, "I drank alcohol."
Initially, Mr. A caused an accident around 2 a.m. on the 1st while driving his own Sonata in an outdoor parking lot of an apartment complex in Jeongnim-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, hitting seven parked vehicles. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, but Mr. A and his passenger fled the scene immediately after leaving the vehicle behind. The police identified Mr. A through vehicle analysis, but he had turned off his mobile phone and was unreachable until he voluntarily appeared on the afternoon of the 2nd, two days later. The police suspected drunk driving, but a delayed test did not yield a blood alcohol concentration level. Mr. A also stated to the police that he "did not drive under the influence."
However, the police discovered circumstances that Mr. A had gatherings at several restaurants before the accident and captured footage of him drinking alcohol through analysis of the restaurants' internal closed-circuit television (CCTV). They also worked to secure additional evidence through restaurant usage records, witness interviews of companions, and analysis of CCTV along his movement routes. Faced with this concrete evidence presented by the police, he admitted to drinking "two 500cc beers."
A police official stated, "We are investigating exactly how much alcohol Mr. A consumed before the accident," adding, "After completing further investigations of Mr. A and his passenger, we will send the case to the prosecution."
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