A suspect in the so-called Icheon vehicle attack, where a car was blocked and its driver threatened, has been arrested more than two months after the incident. An accomplice has already been deported for illegal residency, avoiding punishment.
According to the Icheon Police Station, the Suwon District Court's Yeoju branch issued an arrest warrant on October 18 for a 21-year-old Kazakhstani national, identified as A, citing concerns he might flee. A, along with another Kazakhstani, B, 25, is accused of chasing a vehicle carrying a man in his 30s and a passenger on July 29 at around 11:40 p.m. in a road in Icheon’s Majang-myeon, blocking its path and kicking the front of the car.
A reportedly admitted to the crime during police questioning but claimed he mistook the victim's vehicle for one involved in a failed car sale transaction on the day of the incident.
The investigation had stalled at one point. The victim reported the incident two days later, but police could not identify the suspects, leading to the case being classified as unresolved by mid-last month. However, the case gained public attention on October 18 through the YouTube channel 'Han Moon-cheol TV.'
Following criticism of the initial investigation's shortcomings, police reopened the case on September 21. The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's scientific investigation team analyzed dashcam footage to recover part of the suspect vehicle's license plate and tracked social media posts used by foreigners for vehicle transactions to identify A.
On October 16, police urgently arrested A at a multi-family residence in Ansung, but B had already been deported earlier this month after being caught for illegal residency.
Na Kyung-won, a lawmaker from the People Power Party who has been vocal about the case, criticized the police on Facebook, stating that they only managed to capture the suspect after her office pressured them to restore the license plate. She remarked, "It wasn't that they couldn't catch him; it was that they didn't catch him." Na also emphasized that the delayed investigation allowed the accomplice to leave the country without facing punishment and called for B to be pursued with a red notice. She urged for stricter immigration controls and penalties for foreign crimes, as well as reforms within investigative agencies.
The Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency is currently reviewing whether the initial investigation was conducted appropriately.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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