Busan 'Two Cops' Who Threw Themselves in Front of a Crosswalk to Stop an Out-of-Control Car

Busan Police Agency 1st Mobile Unit Sergeant Lee Won-bin and Officer Kim Chang-hwan Prevented Someone's Sacrifice

Busan Police Agency 1st Mobile Unit Sergeant Lee Won-bin (left) and Police Officer Kim Chang-hwan are physically stopping a taxi with a released braking system on the road in Jwa-dong, Haeundae, on the afternoon of the 28th.
[Image source=Busan Police Agency]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The taxi slowly rolling toward the crosswalk and intersection may have been targeting someone's life.

Those who stopped the vehicle with the side brake released. Though horrifying to imagine, to someone, they were ‘saviors of life’.

"Since the crosswalk and intersection where people walk were right ahead, we physically blocked the accelerating car."

The ones who prevented a near-disaster were Sergeant Lee Won-bin and Police Officer Kim Chang-hwan of the Busan Police Agency 1st Mobile Unit, on special year-end and New Year crime prevention duty.

At 3:50 p.m. on the 28th, an elderly grandmother with mobility difficulties was wandering, unable to find her home in front of Busan Bank in Jwa-dong, Haeundae-gu.

Sergeant Lee and Officer Kim were looking for a taxi to take the grandmother home after she asked for help. Then, a taxi with its hazard lights on started rolling down from the hill above.

It was strange. Only the hazard lights were blinking, and the driver's seat was empty. There was no time to panic. The car was accelerating down the slope, and just ahead was a crosswalk crowded with pedestrians. Even if the pedestrian signal had turned off, right after that was an intersection with heavy vehicle traffic. It was a critical moment.

The two officers clung to the taxi and knocked on the door, but no one was inside. They tried to stop it by holding the side mirror, but the taxi kept gaining speed.

"Let's block it with our bodies." In urgency, they physically blocked the descending taxi. The speed decreased but it was not enough. The taxi headed toward the crosswalk and intersection. While Officer Kim went in front of the car to slow it down with his arms, Sergeant Lee opened the door and threw himself into the moving vehicle. The vehicle stopped. The ‘sacrifice’ that could have befallen someone stopped there.

The vehicle had rolled down the slope after the taxi driver briefly stopped and left the seat with the transmission in drive mode.

The car had traveled about 20 meters and was only 5 meters away from the crosswalk and intersection. The ‘Two Cops’ applauded each other.

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