A motorist who crashed into a school cycling tour in Changhua, injuring seven students, was held incommunicado last night for suspected drug driving, the police said today.
The driver, a 41-year-old man surnamed Hsiao(蕭), had taken heroin, amphetamines and etomidate, a Category 2 narcotic commonly consumed by vaping, the Changhua Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release.
This was confirmed after police ordered Hsiao to take urine and blood tests which came back positive for drugs, the prosecutors' office added.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua police
The students from New Taipei’s Kang Chiao International School had been on a round-island tour of Taiwan when a sedan veered into them from the other side of the road in Changhua on Tuesday morning.
The collision happened on Jhangshuei Road in Changhua’s Pitou Township (埤頭).
Hsiao was apprehended yesterday on charges including using narcotics, driving under the influence of drugs, endangering public safety and inflicting grievous bodily harm, police said.
One student, a 15-year-old boy surnamed Yen (顏), sustained serious head injuries and was in a coma.
Following an operation yesterday, he recovered consciousness and has been transferred from Changhua Christian Hospital to National Taiwan University Hospital for further treatment.
As Hsiao was deemed a flight risk and there were concerns of collusion or destruction of evidence, police requested to detain him incommunicado, which was granted by the court, police said.
Initial investigations found that Hsiao was driving dangerously prior to the collision, while drug paraphernalia, including an etomidate vape, were found at the scene, they added.
The driver was taken to the hospital after sustaining injuries in the crash, before discharging himself, arranging for a friend to pick him up and attempting to contact others to destroy evidence, they said.
Police said he evaded their phone calls following the incident.
Hsiao was taken in by police yesterday to provide a statement and evidence, they said.
He has a prior record of drug-related offenses.
If the suspect is found to have been driving under the influence of drugs, he would have contravened the Criminal Code and the Traffic Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), Department of Public Transportation and Supervision Director-General Lin Fu-shan (林福山) said.
The driver could face a prison term ranging from one to seven years and a fine of NT$1 million and his driver license would be revoked if he has caused severe injuries to others, Lin said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Yun-jung and Fion Khan
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