A Taipei City police officer was handed a one-year prison term yesterday for lying about his role during a 1997 shootout with one of three fugitives involved in a high-profile kidnap-murder case.
The Taipei District Court found that the officer wasn't even at the scene during the time of the shootout, and that the officer, head of the Chienkuo Precinct, tried to steal credit from his colleagues.
In April 1997, Chen Chin-hsing (陳進興), Lin Chun-sheng (林春生) and Kao Tien-min (高天民) kidnapped and eventually killed Pai Hsiao-yen (白曉燕), the daughter of popular TV entertainer Pai Ping-ping (白冰冰).
The court ruled that Chang Yao-sheng (張耀昇), 37, fabricated details of an August 1997 shootout with the suspects and attempted to steal credit from subordinates who had been chasing Lin and Kao.
Amid an intense nationwide manhunt for the three suspects, Chang's station received a tip-off on August 19, 1997, that two men believed to be Pai's murderers were hiding in an apartment on Wuchang Street, northern Taipei.
Two officers went to the apartment and were shot at by two men later identified as Lin and Kao.
As a chase ensued, the two policemen called for back up; they were hit by gunfire at roughly 11:40am that morning, and one of the officers later died.
As Kao fled on a motorcycle, Lin continued to exchange gunfire with other officers arriving on the scene. After 15-minutes of running and shooting, policed chased Lin into dead-end alley.
Seriously injured and with little hope of escape, Lin shot himself in the head at roughly 11:55am, the court found.
The court ruled that Chang, who did not arrive at the scene until 12:04pm, had concocted a story about his heroic performance during the shootout and incorporated it into his report on the incident.
Chang reported that he fired three shots at Lin as the suspect was chased into the alley.
To back up his claim, the officer filed an application for three bullets to replenish his stock.
But he failed to show up for a ceremony where he was to be presented with an award for bravery -- raising suspicions among his fellow officers.
During the trial, Chang denied that he had made up the story and insisted he was involved in the confrontation.
But the court found that Chang, who received word of the shootout at around 11:46am, had arrived at the scene 10 minutes after Lin had killed himself.
Other policemen also involved in the shootout testified that they had not seen their supervisor at the scene.
The Taipei District Court sentenced Chang to one year in prison, without suspension, on a charge of forgery yesterday. He may appeal to the High Court.
Fan Jen-hsun (范仁勳), the presiding judge in the case, said he had given Chang a "lenient sentence" because he had taken into consideration Chang's work as a policeman.
"The defendant has served as a policeman for quite a few years. Even though he did not receive any major awards, he deserves some sort of recognition for his service," Fan said.
"But on the other hand, we did not give him a suspended sentence because we believe that deception of this sort should not be encouraged."
If Chang had been granted a suspended sentence, he would not be required to serve time behind bars unless convicted of another crime during the one-year period.
Although Kao eluded police during the August 1997 shootout, he was killed in another shootout with police in November the same year.
Chen, who was the last of the three to be arrested, was sentenced to death for Pai's brutal murder and executed in October last year.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS