Prosecutors yesterday filed charges against four law-enforcement officers in Taoyuan who were accused of conspiring to cover up a fatal hit-and-run to protect a fellow officer.
At the center of the scandal is Lee Wen-yi (李文億), a 34-year-old officer in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪), who prosecutors said was the driver of the vehicle that hit and killed a university student on Jan. 1.
The case has drawn a lot of public interest because the officer is a son of Lee Ching-yuan (李清淵), a special service officer who serves as a personal bodyguard of Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
Taoyuan district prosecutors yesterday charged Lee Wen-yi with negligent homicide, destruction of evidence and other charges.
Prosecutors also indicted two senior police officers — former Taoyuan Nanya Precinct (南雅) chief Chang Yu-lin (張育霖) and precinct deputy chief Chu Ching-chuan (楚慶權) — and a junior officer, Feng Shih-hao (馮世豪).
They are accused of conspiring with Lee Wen-yi to conceal the crime, including deleting footage from street surveillance cameras and helping him avoid prosecution.
Prosecutors said the charges were the result of a four-month investigation to gather evidence and witness testimonies for the indictments, which also included two of Lee Wen-yi’s friends, surnamed Chien (錢) and Hung (洪), for taking part in the cover-up.
The involvement of senior law enforcement officers and efforts to conceal the crime have sparked criticism from the public, who have described the case as one of “the most reprehensible police scandals” in recent years.
Critics said the indicted officers “should be upholding the law and protecting citizens, but instead they have perverted the law and abused their vested power.”
Prosecutors alleged that Lee Wen-yi, who is also suspected of being intoxicated at the time, drove into traffic in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹), hitting and killing Wang Chia-han (王佳函), a 22-year-old university student.
According to investigators, Lee fled from the scene and called his friends, Chien and Hung, along with the two senior and junior police officers before heading to an auto shop to discuss the matter.
Feng was the first officer to arrive at the scene of the accident. Knowing that it involved Lee Wen-yi, Feng took a quick look then drove away, ignoring the victim as she lay bleeding on the ground, investigators said.
The two senior police officers schemed with Feng to cover up the crime by confiscating all surveillance footage from the area to delete evidence of the accident and of Lee Wen-yi driving his car through the area, the investigators added.
They also took and deleted footage from video recorders on police cruisers that arrived at the scene to investigate.
Lee Wen-yi hid in a motel and only turned himself in on Jan. 2, with investigators suspecting he waited in order to pass a Breathalyzer test.
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