Security personnel at the Presidential Office Building yesterday stopped a man trying to set himself on fire — and he turned out to be a familiar figure to some of them.
The man, identified as a Yunlin County resident surnamed Lin (林), parked his light utility vehicle on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building and began splashing gasoline on himself, according to the Taipei City Police’s First Precinct.
As he took out a lighter from his pocket, Lin was subdued by a number of police officers and military police officers deployed in front of the building, the precinct said.
Lin, 37, was taken to a police station for questioning.
One media report said that the iron factory owner was disappointed at not being able to find enough workers.
Lin first came to the attention of presidential security personnel when his car hit a stone planter in front of the Presidential Office Building about 6:42am on Feb. 23.
He told police at the time that he had lost control of his vehicle as he tried to pick up his smartphone so he could take a photograph while driving toward the building.
No one was injured in the incident, which damaged the front bumper of Lin’s vehicle.
Family members in February told police that Lin had been emotionally unstable and had been seeing a psychiatrist.
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