A man believed to have deliberately driven a car into raised flower beds in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Monday was released on bail of NT$200,000 yesterday.
The 49-year-old, identified by his family name, Tu (杜), had been arrested on suspicion of offenses against public safety and questioned at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Tu has been banned from leaving the country.
Photo courtesy of the President Office
He was arrested for driving his white sedan into raised flower beds in front of the compound in Zhongzheng District (中正) at 4:41pm on Monday.
No one was injured in the incident, while three flower beds were reportedly damaged.
Police said that Tu told them he did not know why he had driven into the flower beds, prompting them to turn him over to prosecutors for further investigation.
Prior to Monday’s incident, Tu was reportedly driving the same vehicle and repeatedly honking his horn near the American Institute in Taiwan in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
Police asked him to leave the area.
Tu’s car had been spray-painted with slogans such as “national cognitive warfare,” “information security invasion SOS,” “AI transformation” and “major country.”
Police said that Tu had given irrelevant responses to questions, had refused to be represented by family-appointed counsel and showed other indications of instability that prompted them to halt their interrogation on Monday evening out of concern for his mental state, sources with knowledge of law enforcement matters said yesterday.
The suspect is well-off and lives with his family, the sources said.
He began displaying signs of a mental health crisis due to recent work-related troubles, they said, adding that he works in commerce.
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