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Truck driver fined 50,000 won for taking Choco Pie from company fridge without permission

Published: 04 May. 2025, 19:42 Updated: 05 May. 2025, 16:27

Boxes of Choco Pie are on display at a supermarket in Seoul on Feb. 27. [YONHAP]

Jeonju District Court in Jeonju, North Jeolla, fined a 41-year-old truck driver 50,000 won ($35) for taking a Choco Pie and another snack from a logistics company fridge without permission, the court said on Sunday.

Prosecutors indicted the driver after they took a 400-won chocolate pie and a 600-won snack from a company fridge in Wanju County, North Jeolla, around 4:06 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2024.

Prosecutors initially sought a summary indictment, given the minor value involved, but the defendant requested a formal trial and pleaded not guilty.

“At the time, other drivers told me that snacks in the fridge were for anyone to eat,” the truck driver said. “I just took a Choco Pie and a snack based on that, so I don’t understand how this is theft.”

But a company official in charge of the refrigerator disputed that claim.

“Our employees have offered snacks to drivers before, but no driver has ever taken anything without permission,” the official said.

The court ruled against the driver, citing building access restrictions and supporting testimony.

“The second floor of the building, where the incident occurred, separates office space from the drivers’ waiting area,” the court said. “Truck drivers are not allowed in the office area, and the fridge was located at the far end of that space.”

A security guard also testified that they had never seen or accessed the refrigerator.

“Given the layout of the building and the testimonies, the defendant would have clearly understood he had no authority over the items,” the ruling stated.

The court acknowledged that the low value of the items and the defendant’s admission were favorable to him. But it also considered the driver's prior record of similar offenses, lack of forgiveness from the company and the context of the incident.

“Considering the motive, method and outcome of the act, as well as the defendant’s behavior afterward, the fine set in the original summary ruling is not excessive,” the court said.

The defendant has since appealed the decision.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]