Unlicensed suspect detained in Taichung drunk driving hit & run death

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Taichung prosecutors on Sunday detained an unlicensed driver suspected in the drunk driving hit and run death of a university student who worked part-time as a delivery driver.

In a statement early Sunday, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office said a court approved its request to detain the male suspect, surnamed Wu (吳), on suspicion of drunk driving resulting in a death, fleeing the scene of an accident and public endangerment.

The Taichung City Police Department said it received a call at 3:47 a.m. Saturday about a car-on-motorcycle accident in the city's Xitun District at the intersection of Liming Road and Kaixuan Road.

Officers arriving at the scene found a 22-year-old delivery driver, surnamed Chen (陳), lying on the ground near his motorcycle, while the car that struck him was nowhere to be seen.

Chen was sent to an area hospital but later died of his injuries, the department said.

According to police sources, Chen was originally from northern Taiwan but enrolled as an undergraduate student at a medical university in Kaohsiung.

He was living in Taichung as part of a senior year hospital internship program, and working part-time as a delivery driver to help with his family's finances, police said.

After reviewing surveillance camera footage, police identified Wu, 23, as the driver of the other vehicle, and arrested him later that morning.

Following an investigation, police said Wu, who works at a car wash, had borrowed the car from a friend, despite not having a driver's license.

Wu had been out drinking and singing karaoke earlier that night, and was on his way home when he crashed into Chen. At the time of his arrest, a breathalyzer test showed that he had a blood alcohol content of 0.37 milligrams per liter, well over the legal limit of 0.15 mg/l, police said.