Three plainclothes Changhua County police officers have been disciplined after a 17-year-old boy sustained a head wound that required 17 stitches when they chased him down after misidentifying him as a migrant worker who had absconded from his employer.
Independent Changhua County Councilor Chang Tsun-yang (張春洋) spoke to reporters on Friday at the request of the boy’s family, while the three officers went to the teen’s home to apologize, and promised to pay for his medical expenses.
On the morning of July 4, the 17-year-old vocational high-school student was riding his bicycle on Fanjin Road in Puyan Township’s (埔鹽) Haosiu Village (好修) when an unmarked car pulled up alongside him and three men in civilian clothes jumped out, Chang said.
Photo provided by a member of the public
Fearing that he would be kidnapped, the teen ran, while the three men — plainclothes officers from Puyan Police Station — gave chase, Chang said.
While trying to flee, the boy hit his head on a tractor, causing a large gash that required 17 stitches. He also sustained bruises on his body and legs.
Soon afterward, the officers tackled and restrained him, video footage showed.
Police tried to arrest him, but realized they had the wrong person, as the teen reportedly kept shouting: “Who are you? Why are you attacking me?” in fluent Mandarin.
The teen’s mother is from Vietnam, but had since divorced her Taiwanese husband, and is raising him alone, Chang said.
The teen was dressed in working clothing while riding his bicycle, as he was heading to a relative’s farm where he had a summer job, the councilor said.
“The three police officers did not identify themselves, nor did they state their intention... Naturally the teenager thought they were thugs or gangsters wanting to kidnap him, so ... he resisted and tried to run away,” Chang said.
In days following the incident, Sihu Precinct deputy chief Shih Kun-shan (施焜山) denied any wrongdoing. Puyan Police Station falls under his precinct.
Shih told reporters that the plainclothes police had come across a young man talking on phone while riding his bicycle erratically.
“The officers saw the man ... swerving left and right. Believing he had mental or physical problems, they stopped to check on the man’s identity, and right from the start told him they were police officers, but the man did not cooperate and ran away,” Shih said. “In the process, the man accidentally fell on a farm plow.”
The Changhua County Police Bureau issued a written reprimand to the officer in charge during the arrest — the chief of the Puyan Police Station, surnamed Yeh (葉) — but did not punish the other two, as they were acting on his orders.
Many people were outraged following reports on the incident, after a farmer posed a video of the incident on social media.
Amid the public outcry, the bureau yesterday announced that Yeh had been demoted to a non-managerial position, while the two other officers, and Yeh’s superior — Sihu Precinct chief Huang Jen-chien (黃壬鍵) — were issued written reprimands.
The matter would also be referred to the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation, the bureau said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was