Police Request Arrest Warrant for 30-Year-Old Taxi Driver Who Blocked Ambulance, Causing Emergency Patient's Death

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The police have requested a pre-arrest warrant for a taxi driver in his 30s who blocked an ambulance transporting an emergency patient to the hospital.

On the 22nd, the Gangdong Police Station in Seoul announced that they had applied for an arrest warrant for taxi driver Choi Mo (31) on charges of special assault (intentional accident) and obstruction of business. The prosecution has submitted the warrant application to the court.

Choi is accused of blocking the ambulance for about 10 minutes on a road near Godeok Station on Subway Line 5 in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 8th of last month, demanding "handle the accident first" after a minor collision with the ambulance.

The ambulance was carrying a 79-year-old patient with stage 4 lung cancer who was experiencing breathing difficulties. The patient was transferred to the hospital by another ambulance but ultimately passed away around 9 p.m. that day. Choi resigned from the taxi company on the 22nd of last month, two weeks after the accident.

A police official explained, "We have conducted analyses of the black box footage by the Road Traffic Authority, collected testimonies from related parties, and investigated additional offenses. Due to the seriousness of the case and the risk of flight, we applied for an arrest warrant."

This case became public after the patient's family posted a petition on the Blue House National Petition Board on the 3rd of this month, demanding punishment for the taxi driver. The petition has currently garnered over 714,000 signatures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.