Three men were detained in Taichung yesterday after their vehicle was hit and they allegedly assaulted the other driver with a baseball bat, resulting in a serious head injury.
Chang Tun-liang (張敦量), 23, Chen Ching-hao (陳勁豪), 19, and Lee Wei-lin (李韋霖), 25, might be charged with attempted homicide, illegal confinement causing injury to the victim and “interference with public order,” the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said.
The other driver — a 19-year-old student, surnamed Sung (宋), who is enrolled at Feng Chia University in Taichung — remains in a coma.
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
A report by Sixth Police Precinct officers said that Sung was driving a Volkswagen with four friends in the early hours of Sunday morning when the vehicle sideswiped a Maserati sports car on Taiwan Boulevard, the city’s main thoroughfare.
According to a witness and video footage, Chang, Chen and Lee were yelling as they exited the Maserati and soon began punching and kicking Sung.
Lee, who had been driving, allegedly hit Sung with a baseball bat multiple times on the head, despite Sung’s apologies, police said.
After they arrived, police took the trio’s statements and let them leave the scene, the report said, adding that officers saw no reason to detain the trio, as the fighting had ended.
The three were questioned a second time by police, but were again sent home, the report said.
Later, after Sung’s mother took a copy of his medical report to the police precinct, prosecutors began to investigate. Summonses were served to the three on Wednesday.
News of the assault and the handling of the case resulted in a public outcry, while media reports saying that the trio came from wealthy families and had criminal records brought more condemnation.
At the hospital on Wednesday, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), accompanied by city officials, offered her apologies to the family and promised to take action.
Yesterday, Taichung city councilors debated the incident, with eight councilors carrying out a protest against the mayor and Taichung Police Department Commissioner Tsai Tsan-po (蔡蒼柏).
Taichung City Councilor Hsieh Chih-chung (謝志忠) of the Democratic Progressive Party said that the police chief should resign, and if he refuses to do so, Lu should be held responsible for the incident.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
The presence of Taiwanese politicians at China’s military parade tomorrow would send the wrong message to Beijing and the international community about Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, a national security official said yesterday. China is to hold the parade tomorrow to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. By bringing together leaders of “anti-West” governments such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus, the parade aims to project a symbolic image of an alliance that is cohesive and unbending against Western countries, the national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu
RSS