A man in his 50s extorted money through 'wrist twisting' targeting only female drivers... sentenced to prison

Court: "Serious nature of the crime... High possibility of reoffending"

A man in his 50s who deliberately collided his wrist with female drivers to extort money under the pretext of medical expenses was sentenced to prison.

On the 21st, the Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Lee Seong) announced that it sentenced Mr. A, who was tried on charges including extortion, to 1 year and 8 months in prison and ordered him to pay 1.6 million won in compensation.

Mr. A is accused of intentionally hitting his right wrist against the side mirror of a passenger car driven by a woman in her 30s, Ms. B, on a road in front of a parking lot in Ulsan one evening in January this year. Mr. A intimidated Ms. B by saying, "If you were a man, I wouldn't have let it go, but since you're a woman, I'll settle this nicely," and extorted 600,000 won from her under the pretext of medical expenses. This is a fraudulent method called 'wrist hitting.' It involves deliberately colliding with a car and then demanding a settlement fee from the driver under the pretense of an accident and medical expenses.

Mr. A also extorted a total of about 4 million won from 19 drivers using a similar method from early January to early April this year. He mainly targeted female drivers in alleyways, deliberately causing accidents and threatening them by saying things like, "If you were a man, I would have cursed at you, but since you're a woman, I'll let it slide," "If you were a man, I would have demanded more money," and "If you were a man, I would have hit you once," while demanding money.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A caused such intentional accidents three times within just about an hour. He also caused similar accidents and demanded money from 13 other female drivers, but when the drivers refused by saying, "I don't have cash," or "I'll call the insurance company," the attempts failed. Mr. A was eventually caught on the spot by police officers and was urgently arrested after repeatedly committing these crimes.

The court stated, "The defendant committed crimes targeting only female drivers who could be vulnerable to such acts, showing a bad nature, and did not reach settlements with the victims," and added, "He committed similar crimes before, served a sentence, and committed crimes again during the probation period, indicating a high possibility of reoffending."