60s Man Escapes Hospital During Treatment, Seizes Taxi, Wields Weapon; Sentenced to Prison with Probation

Surgical Stress Appears to Trigger Bipolar Affective Disorder
Court: "Serious Crime but Defendant Was Mentally Incapacitated at Time of Offense"

A man in his 60s who unlawfully left a hospital during his admission, hijacked a taxi, and committed a violent rampage with a weapon was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

According to the legal community on the 5th, the Criminal Division 11 of Daejeon District Court (Chief Judge Choi Seok-jin) sentenced Mr. A (65), who was indicted on charges including robbery and injury, to three years in prison with a five-year suspension.

On October 28 last year, around midnight, Mr. A approached a vehicle waiting at a traffic signal on a road in Seo-gu, Daejeon, stabbed the rear tire with a weapon he was carrying, causing a flat tire, and assaulted the driver, Mr. B (24). He then threatened a nearby taxi driver, Mr. C (62), with the weapon, forced him to get out, hijacked the taxi, and fled.

He was also indicted for threatening a motorcycle rider with a weapon after moving to Dong-gu, Daejeon, and for injuring police officers who arrived on the scene by wielding the weapon.

Mr. A, who was hospitalized after heart surgery, left the hospital holding an IV stand that day. It was investigated that he committed the crimes in a state of diminished capacity due to bipolar affective disorder triggered by stress from the surgery, impairing his ability to distinguish objects.

The first trial court stated, "Considering the number of offenses, methods, circumstances, and extent of damage, the nature of the crime is not good, but it took into account that the defendant was in a state of diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime," adding, "However, since he drove the taxi for 18 km and gave a full account of the entire course of the crime, it cannot be considered a state of mental incapacity."

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