Spousal fight resulted in luxury car collision
Published: 17 Aug. 2015, 21:13
The back side of the Ferrari, left, and the front of the Bentley each show damages which have repair costs of 300 million won (253,500 dollar) and 3 million won, respectively. Provided by Seoul Gangnam Police Precinct
In announcing the conclusion of their investigation, police said the owner of the 300 million won ($250,000) Bentley, who was identified as a 28-year-old woman surnamed Lee, rammed into her husband’s car, a 360 million won Ferrari, on June 13 around 4 p.m. in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam District. She suspected her husband was having an affair.
Lee was heavily intoxicated at the time, police said, and was questioning her husband’s whereabouts because the man, a 37-year-old surnamed Park, was often out late at night.
Lee’s blood alcohol level was 0.115 percent - high enough for a person’s driving license to be revoked - when she spotted Park’s car in the middle of the road and decided to crash her Bentley into the back of his Ferrari.
A taxi was rear-ended by the Ferrari in the incident.
The collision of the two luxury cars, which topped the list of the most searched words on local portals, escalated into fraud when the taxi driver, a 45-year-old surnamed Kim, demanded a settlement from the couple in return for not saying the incident was intentional.
Kim heard Lee screaming at Park to “go ahead and call the cops because I ran into your car” after she got out of her vehicle, police said.
The couple bribed Kim with 27 million won ($22,815) and later told police it was a settlement.
The couple was about to get away with having the entire 303 million won repair costs covered by insurance, when authorities learned of the hefty settlement for Kim. The couple eventually admitted the accident was intentional.
Repair costs for Lee’s Bentley were estimated at 3 million won while Park’s Ferrari called for 300 million won in repairs.
Police requested a detention warrant for Kim on charges of blackmail and Lee was booked for violence. Park was acquitted, due in large part to his acknowledgement of the scheme.
BY LEE SUNG-EUN, KIM MIN-KWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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