Taxi Driver Who Removed and Buried a 25 Million Won Surveillance Camera Says "I'm Not Guilty"

Prosecution Seeks 1-Year Prison Sentence "Serious Nature of Crime"
Sentencing Trial Scheduled for March

A taxi driver who was prosecuted on charges of stealing a speeding enforcement camera worth tens of millions of won and burying it underground claimed innocence.

On the 31st, the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office requested the court to sentence Mr. A, a man in his 50s who was detained and indicted on charges of concealing public property, to one year in prison at the sentencing trial held under the jurisdiction of the Jeju District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Bae Gumin). The prosecution explained the reason for the request, stating, "The nature of the crime is serious, and the defendant denies the crime and shows no remorse."

On the other hand, Mr. A's defense claimed innocence. Mr. A's lawyer said, "To commit the crime, the door of the enforcement camera booth, which has a locking device, must first be opened, but there is no information on what tools were used or how it was done. There is circumstantial evidence but no direct evidence," and requested the court to carefully examine whether the criminal facts were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Mr. A stated, "I am a person unrelated to this case. I hope innocent people are not made criminals."

[Image provided by Seogwipo Police Station]

Before the sentencing, during the defendant's questioning, the prosecution asked Mr. A about the reason for turning back on the road near the incident location, why he turned off and stopped his taxi near the unmanned enforcement post, and why his statements related to this were changed from the police investigation.

Mr. A answered, "At the time, a call came in, so I made a U-turn to pick up a passenger, but the call was canceled, and then I stopped to rest because I was tired." Regarding the change in his statement, he said, "I was confused during the police investigation because I was mentally unprepared and it was sudden."

The sentencing trial is scheduled to be held in March.

According to the prosecution's charges, Mr. A is accused of secretly taking one portable speeding enforcement camera worth 25 million won, along with a 4.5 million won auxiliary battery and tripod, installed on a mountain road in Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo City, between the afternoon of October 12 and the morning of October 13 last year, and burying them in an orchard managed by his family.

At the time, it was confirmed that Mr. A was driving at 100 km/h on the road where the speed limit was 80 km/h.

The prosecution judged that Mr. A, who had previously paid multiple fines for speeding, committed the crime to avoid paying the fines.

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