Police Who Disclosed Informant's Information in Drunk Hit-and-Run Case Say "It Was Not Intentional"

During Investigation, Suspect Denies Crime but Makes Slip of the Tongue
Suspect Visits Complainant's Store

The police reportedly leaked the personal information of a whistleblower who reported a drunk hit-and-run driver to the suspect.

According to reports from Yonhap News and others on the 15th, at around 12:25 a.m. on the 11th of last month, a man in his 40s, Mr. A, hit a taxi while driving under the influence at an intersection in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk Province, and fled the scene. As a result of the accident, the taxi driver and passenger were injured and received treatment at a hospital.

After causing the accident, Mr. A immediately got out of the car and ran away, but a citizen who witnessed the scene chased him and caught him in a nearby alley. Subsequently, the police who arrived at the scene tested Mr. A’s blood alcohol concentration, which was found to be above the license cancellation threshold (0.08%).

Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency [Image source=Jeonbuk Police]

The Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency investigated Mr. A on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (hit-and-run causing injury), as he not only drove under the influence but also ran a red light causing the accident.

However, during police questioning earlier this month, Mr. A denied his charges, saying, "I don't remember the accident." The police tried to get a confession by explaining the circumstances of the accident, but Mr. A never admitted to the crime. During this explanation, the investigator mentioned the type of business operated by the whistleblower and said, "They said they saw everything (at the time of the accident) there."

There were only two businesses of that type near the accident site. Because of this, some information about the whistleblower’s business was exposed. Mr. A, who was not detained, reportedly inferred the whistleblower’s store after the police investigation and confronted them, asking, "Did you report me?" However, it is reported that there was no physical altercation between Mr. A and the whistleblower.

The police acknowledged that some information about the whistleblower’s business was exposed but explained that it was not intentional. They also stated, "Although it was not deliberate, since some whistleblower information was exposed, we plan to conduct a detailed investigation with the involved party."