CITIZENS HELP CATCH HIT AND RUN DRIVER

[Anchor Lead]

A hit-and-run DUI driver was caught after hitting two pedestrians in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do Prov. The driver was caught in 3 hours thanks to citizens who went after the car to check the number plate. They even handed over the dash cam footage of the accident to the police.

[Pkg]

A four-lane street in front of the Changwon City Council building in Gyeongsangnam-do Province. A vehicle driving at a high speed runs into two pedestrians crossing the street.

[Soundbite] "Oh, no. Call the police."

The car stops about 30 meters away from the accident site. People who saw the accident gather around the victims. But the driver who caused the accident gets back into his car and drives away. Witnesses flagged down a taxi passing by the site and told the cab driver something while pointing at the vehicle getting away.

[Soundbite] (Witness) : "I told the cab driver to go after the fleeing vehicle and get its license plate number."

The cab driver chased the fleeing vehicle for five minutes and reported the license plate number to the police. Another witness handed over the dash cam footage of the accident to the police after the victims were transported to a hospital. Three hours later, the police arrested a man in his fifties at a parking lot three kilometers away from the accident site. His blood alcohol level was 0.06%, enough to get his driver's license suspended. A woman in her 30s and a forty-something man hit by the drunken driver are hospitalized with serious injuries. The citizens' quick-thinking and prompt response led to the swift arrest of a drunk driver in a hit-and-run case.