A former Taoyuan police officer who shot and killed a passenger in a vehicle that was fleeing police has been found not guilty of negligent homicide, the Taoyuan District Court said yesterday.
The court said the defendant, surnamed Tseng (曾), was deputy head of the Taoyuan Police Department’s Bade Precinct when the incident occurred on the night of March 27, 2020.
After noticing a suspicious car in an alley, Tseng used a loudspeaker to order it to pull over. The car’s driver, surnamed Wu (吳), who was drunk at the time, sped off, sparking a chase in which he reversed two times to ram Tseng’s patrol car.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
After reversing a third time, Wu turned his vehicle to the right to flee again. Tseng, who had exited his car, fired five shots at the moving vehicle’s back tire, two of which hit a female passenger in the car’s back seat.
The passenger, surnamed Yang (楊), was struck in the leg and back by the bullets, and later died despite emergency medical treatment.
In its ruling, the Taoyuan court said Wu’s reckless driving during the episode had posed a “significant danger” to other drivers and pedestrians.
Based on surveillance video footage of the shooting, it was also clear that Tseng was aiming downward toward the vehicle’s tires when he fired the shots to bring it to a stop, it said.
Given the severity and potential danger of the situation, as well as that Tseng followed police protocol on the use of firearms, the court said there was insufficient evidence that he committed a crime and found him not guilty.
The verdict can be appealed.
Meanwhile, Wu was previously found guilty of driving under the influence and obstructing a public official and was sentenced to a combined eight months in prison, commutable to a fine.
Although Tseng was cleared of criminal charges, a court in February ordered the Taoyuan City Government and Bade Police Precinct to pay a combined NT$7.48 million (US$233,984) in state compensation to Yang’s parents and two children over her death.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS