A female motorist who allegedly fatally dragged a police officer holding on to the side of her car while trying to evade a roadside check was handed over to prosecutors yesterday, New Taipei City police said.
According to police, the suspect, surnamed Chen (陳), was turned over to the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation of possible homicide, drug use and obstruction of official duties charges.
Chen was arrested at a friend’s residence at 1am along with two friends after fleeing the scene of the incident, police said, adding that they found amphetamines, etomidate and vape cartridges in her possession.
Photo copied by CNA
The 30-year-old Chen allegedly dragged Liu Tsung-hsin (劉宗鑫), head of the Chingshui Police Station in Tucheng Precinct, for about 500m near the New Taipei City District Court at high speed before ramming him into a fence lining a construction site.
The 38-year-old Liu was critically injured and pronounced dead after being taken to nearby Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, while Chen fled the scene on foot, police said.
Liu attempted to conduct a roadside inspection of Chen’s car at 11pm on Monday after suspecting that it was illegally parked, it said.
During the inspection, Liu discovered that the vehicle was not properly registered and suspected that Chen possessed drugs, prompting him to ask her to step out of the vehicle.
Chen refused to comply and as she drove away, Liu grabbed hold of her steering wheel to stop the car. However, Chen accelerated, trying to shake him off, and eventually steered the left side of the car into a fence, injuring Liu severely, police said.
It remains unclear whether she was driving under the influence of drugs.
Chen had a prior drug offense, sources said.
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