Complaints filed against doctors of man accused of driving stoned

Social Affairs

Published: 16 Aug. 2023, 18:21 Updated: 16 Aug. 2023, 18:38

Complaints filed against doctors of man accused of driving stoned

Shin Woo-jun, 28, accused of hitting a woman while driving under the influence of drugs near Apgujeong Station in southern Seoul earlier in the month, leaves Seoul Central District Court after attending an arrest warrant hearing on Saturday. [YONHAP]

The attorney of a critically injured woman hit by a Rolls-Royce driver accused of driving under the influence of drugs in southern Seoul filed a complaint Wednesday against the driver's doctors for prescribing the drugs.

Twenty-eight-year-old Shin Woo-jun is accused of driving onto a sidewalk and hitting a 20-something-year-old woman near Exit 4 of Apgujeong Station at around 8:10 p.m. on Aug. 2, allegedly while under the influence of drugs.

The victim received surgery for severe head and leg injuries but is currently brain dead.

The driver's identity was revealed after he appeared on a YouTube channel, "Caracula's Detective Office," to defend himself.

The victim’s attorney on Wednesday filed a complaint against a plastic surgeon working in Apgujeong who allegedly injected a drug into Shin on the day of the accident. The attorney accused the surgeon of professional negligence, aiding drug-impaired driving and violating the Narcotics Control Act.

The attorney also filed a lawsuit against three other unidentified doctors known to have prescribed narcotic drugs to Shin, accusing them of violating the Narcotics Control Act and the Medical Service Act.

According to the National Forensic Service, the suspect tested positive for seven different psychoactive drugs, including ketamine. Shin claimed the drugs he tested positive for were all prescribed for medical purposes.

Police are also under fire regarding their inappropriate investigation into the case as they released Shin the day after he was taken into custody, despite having tested positive for drugs.

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Shin last Saturday, deeming him a risk to destroy evidence.

In the YouTube interview, in which he wore a black mask, he explained that he was released because he had to submit documents to prove that the Rolls-Royce he drove was not his and that the ketamine for which he tested positive was for medical purposes.

In the video, he said he told the police that the ketamine found in his body was used to put him to sleep for seborrheic dermatitis treatment.

He also agreed to take a urine test, although he had the right to reject it because he did not use any drugs.

He also made contradictory remarks in the video, saying that while he does not exactly remember the scene of the accident, he took appropriate actions to rescue the victim.

When asked about why he tottered and roamed around the accident site, he said he fainted right after the accident but helped the victim as soon as he saw her lying in front of his car.

When the host of the program, Caracula, pointed out that the CCTV footage shows no such effort to help the victim, he said that the police told him of his actions and that he soon left the site to ask for help from a doctor at a hospital he visited right before the accident.

Shin was previously given a suspended prison sentence of a year for purchasing and using meth from July 2016 to March 2017.

He was also indicted in 2019 for using meth with his acquaintance while on probation but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

“I deeply apologize to the victim. I am really sorry,” Shin said to the press as he left his arrest warrant hearing on Saturday.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, SHIN HYE-YEON [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]