30-Something Hit-and-Run Driver Taken Into Custody After Killing an Octogenarian Pedestrian While Speeding at 100 km/h; Signs of Drinking Emerge

[Financial News] A driver in their 30s who sped through downtown in the early morning, struck and killed an octogenarian pedestrian, and fled the scene has been taken into custody.
Gwangju Dongbu Police Station said on the 4th that it had detained A, a person in their 30s, on suspicion of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (causing death while fleeing the scene). After conducting a pre-arrest suspect examination that day, the Gwangju District Court issued an arrest warrant for A, citing concerns that they might destroy evidence or flee.
According to police, A is suspected of driving a passenger car at around 4:57 a.m. on the 25th of last month at an intersection in Dongmyeong-dong, Dong-gu, Jeonnam-Gwangju, striking and killing B, an octogenarian who was crossing at a crosswalk, then leaving the scene without taking any meaningful steps to help. B was taken to hospital by 119 emergency responders but ultimately died.
The investigation found that at the time of the crash, A was speeding at 100 km/h or more on a road where the speed limit was 60 km/h.
Soon after the crash, police identified the vehicle involved by analyzing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and fragments left at the scene. That afternoon, they first apprehended C, a passenger in their 30s who had been riding in the car, in Hwasun on suspicion of aiding and abetting a hit-and-run causing death. A, who had gone into hiding after turning off their phone and avoiding contact, voluntarily appeared at a police station the following afternoon.
A denied drunk driving during questioning, saying to the effect that, “I didn’t see the pedestrian in time, and I went into hiding because I was scared.” Passenger C also claimed, “I was the only one who drank.”
However, so much time had passed before A voluntarily appeared that police could not determine whether A had been drinking through a breath test. Even so, as they traced the pair’s movements and payment records before and after the crash, evidence suggesting they had drunk together continued to emerge. Alcohol was also reportedly detected in A’s first urine analysis by the National Forensic Service.
Police plan to apply the Widmark formula once additional test results, including blood analyses, become available, to estimate A’s exact blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash and continue the investigation.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter