A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei city councilor candidate has admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) on Wednesday night, but denied trying to scapegoat a campaign aide after an accident, leading to calls that he withdraw from the Nov. 24 elections.
The Taipei Police Department’s Zhongzheng Second Precinct yesterday said it had recommended that Lin Kuan-hsun (林冠勳) be charged in connection with a hit-and-run on Tingzhou Road Sec. 1 and public endangerment, and that his assistant, Wang Pang-chun (王邦竣), be charged with falsifying documents.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday released Lin and Wang on a bail of NT$200,000 and NT$100,000 respectively.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
A sedan registered to Lin was involved in an incident at 9:16pm on Wednesday, when a motorbike ridden by a woman surnamed Yen (顏) hit the rear of the car after the driver signaled for a turn, but then made an abrupt left turn into an alley, police said.
The car then drove away, but Yen called the police and waited at the scene for officers to arrive, the precinct said.
The sedan returned before traffic police arrived and Wang stepped out of the driver’s side, saying that he was responsible, while Lin was in the passenger seat, police said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Officers administered Breathalyzer tests to Wang and Yen, and found them sober, while Lin’s blood alcohol level was 0.3 miligrams per liter, double the legal limit, police said.
Police said they let Lin go home, because he claimed that he had only been the passenger in the car and had important business at home.
Yen told investigators at the precinct that the driver she saw during the crash was wearing white, but Wang was in black, and a review of camera footage corroborated Yen’s testimony, police said.
Lin was called to the precinct and during questioning admitted to being the driver at the time of the accident and driving under the influence, police said.
He told police that he had not stopped after the accident, because he thought he was being targeted with a staged incident. He also denied telling Wang to take responsibility, police said.
Wang reportedly told police that he had lied when claiming to have been the driver, because Lin had told him to do so.
When Lin left the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday, he bowed in apology in front of a crowd of waiting reporters.
He denied that the incident was a hit-and-run, but said that it was his car that was hit by the motorcycle, causing minor damages.
Lin, a protege and longtime staff member of former KMT legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), is seeking a seat in the Zhongzheng-Wanhua constituency (中正-萬華), and was widely considered to be a shoo-in after Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yan (童仲彥) dropped his re-election bid following an Aug. 11 accident in Keelung allegedly caused by drunk driving.
Several KMT figures yesterday called for Lin Kuan-hsun to drop out of the race.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said that Lin Yu-fang had called him to tell him about the incident, and that Lin Yu-fang had asked Lin Kuan-hsun to withdraw from the election.
Drunk driving is a major public safety issue, and there is zero tolerance for drunk driving, KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said.
He said he hoped Lin Kuan-hsun would admit and repent for his mistakes.
Lin Kuan-hsun’s behavior contravened the law and meets the requirement for revoking his party nomination, KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Ching-ju (黃呂錦茹) said.
Hopefully, Lin Kuan-hsun would apologize to the public and withdraw from the election of his own initiative, she said.
Several netizens on online bulletin board PTT said that one of Lin Kuan-hsun’s campaign posters in Wanhua District shows the candidate alongside a call for tougher penalties for drunk driving.
Asked by reporters outside the prosecutors’ office whether he would quit the race, Lin Kuan-hsun said he needed more time to make a decision.
Additional reporting by Chien Li-chung and Sherry Hsiao, with CNA
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