A former civilian employee at United States Forces Korea has been arrested on charges of injuring a police officer in a hit-and-run case last month, local police said Friday.
On Feb. 22, the 31-year-old American allegedly crossed over the centerline on the streets of Itaewon District and drove into a police officer who was trying to stop him, the Yongsan Police Station investigating the case said.
The U.S. 8th Army fired him last week, allowing the local police to detain him. Otherwise, local authorities would have had to ask the USFK to turn him over, according to the Status of Forces Agreement, which gives U.S. military personnel immunity from South Korean law.
“The USFK appears to have considered the diplomatic implications of keeping him employed,” a police official said, asking not to be identified.
The suspect reportedly told officers that he was looking for a hospital to refill his prescription for heart disease and doesn’t remember the details because he was suffering from heartburn at the time.
Closed-circuit TV footage, however, shows his brake lights coming on, suggesting he noticed the officer in front of him. A woman who was with him said she told him to stop the car but he refused to listen.
A doctor who diagnosed him said memory loss was not related to heartburn. The suspect also did not have heart disease, he added.
Authorities said the accident, therefore, appeared intentional.
Only about 0.55 percent, or 385, of all USFK personnel, including civilian employees, faced trial from 2013 to 2014, according to the USFK spokesman. Of them, 144 were convicted. He did not mention the number of personnel who were charged with crimes during that time.
There are about 28,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean, which left the two Koreas divided and technically still at war. (Yonhap)
