The family of a woman in her 60s who was struck and killed by a police patrol car that had been dispatched to rescue her is demanding that the officer who was driving face a murder charge. The family argues the case amounts to murder based on conditional (dolus eventualis) intent, saying she foresaw the victim could die and proceeded anyway, saying the patrol car ran over the victim once, stopped, then moved again and drove over her a second time.
According to Yonhap News Agency and other outlets on the 14th, the patrol car struck the woman, identified only by her surname A, at about 12:45 a.m. on July 3 on a back street in Sungui-dong, Michuhol District, Incheon. Officers had been dispatched after a caller told the 112 emergency line that a person was lying in the road. A died from her injuries.
The driver was a patrolwoman in her 20s, identified by her surname B, assigned to a police box under the jurisdiction of Michuhol Police Station. She had been dispatched to the scene with another officer from the same police box. Investigators found the crash occurred on a dark alley immediately after the patrol car turned left onto the road.
"Stopped for 10 Seconds After First Impact" — Family Says Car Moved Again
The family is raising questions about what happened, citing a witness statement. The patrol car jolted hard enough to be felt inside the vehicle when it first ran over A, and then stood still for about 10 seconds, according to that account.
The family said Officer B did not immediately get out to check on A or provide aid, but instead put the patrol car in motion again. In doing so, the vehicle ran over A a second time, the family said, and traveled about 15 more meters before officers in a patrol car following behind shouted, prompting B to get out.
Based on those circumstances, the family believes B may have realized a person was under the vehicle after the first impact. If she moved the car again knowing the victim was pinned beneath it, the family argues, she can be seen as having driven while aware the woman could die, and should therefore face a murder charge based on conditional (dolus eventualis) intent.
The family is also calling for a charge of fleeing the scene resulting in death under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Their position is that the officer should be booked for murder or for fleeing the scene resulting in death, rather than the death by negligent driving charge currently applied under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, and that the case should be investigated as a serious crime.
The family also questioned whether the officers exercised sufficient care while responding. They argued that although the initial caller gave the address of a home near the scene, the responding officers did not slow down enough or scan the surroundings closely as they approached.
They further raised concerns about obtaining the 112 emergency call records. The family said police failed to hand over materials from the 112 command center needed to establish how the crash occurred, and filed a request with the court for preservation of evidence under the Criminal Procedure Act. Measures to preserve the relevant materials have since been taken, the family said.
Officer Says She Did Not See the Woman; Dashcam to Show What She Knew
Officer B, for her part, told investigators that she had not properly seen A lying in the road, according to accounts of her statement.
The Incheon Seobu Police Station, which is investigating the case, has booked B without detention on a charge of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, resulting in death. Police have also conducted preliminary questioning of B, the officer who was in the car with her and witnesses.
Police are awaiting the results of A's autopsy and an on-site analysis by the Korea Road Traffic Authority. They also plan to examine data from the patrol car's event data recorder and dashcam footage to determine whether B could have spotted A in advance and whether she could have recognized the victim after the first impact.
A police official said the charge to be applied to B and whether to refer the case to prosecutors will be decided after the autopsy and on-site analysis results are reviewed together.
