Court orders driver who rammed taxi into prosecutors office detained

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Friday approved a request by prosecutors to detain a taxi driver who rammed his vehicle into the Taipei District Prosecutors Office early Thursday morning.

Prosecutors suspected that the driver, surnamed Shao (邵), violated several provisions of Taiwan's Criminal Code, including obstruction of justice and public disorder, but decided to release him on NT$100,000 (US$3,150) bail while the investigation continued.

Shao was unable to pay his bond, however, prompting prosecutors to move to detain him instead, a request subsequently approved by the Taipei District Court, leading to the driver's detainment early Friday morning.

The incident occurred at approximately 5:30 a.m. Thursday. Shao drove his vehicle into the front door of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, which is located near the Presidential Office Building.

He was arrested by police officers from Taipei's Zhongzheng First Precinct, who said Shao was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he committed the crime. The incident resulted in property damage but no injuries, police said.

Shao's taxi, which authorities found had slogans such as "the judicial system is dead" painted on the doors, was also seized, and Shao was then transferred to the custody of the office into which he drove his taxi for further investigation.

According to the police, Shao had 12 years of experience as a taxi driver, but he was recently involved in several legal cases that did not go in his favor, the latest of which was ruled on Wednesday.

Following the latest setback, Shao first took to social media to vent his dissatisfaction before going over to the Taipei Prosecutors Office.

He was then observed to have been casing the area before driving his taxi into the front gate of the office located on Bo'ai Road.