▲ Ulsan District Court
A man in his 20s who used drugs again while leaving a police station parking lot after being cleared to go home following a negative preliminary drug test, and subsequently stopped his car in the middle of a road while under the influence, has been sentenced to prison.
Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 12 (Presiding Judge Lee Young-je) announced today (September 22) that it sentenced Defendant A, who was brought to trial on charges including violation of the Act on the Control of Narcotics, to three years in prison and ordered the completion of a 40-hour drug addiction rehabilitation program.
According to the ruling, on the evening of February 21 of this year, multiple 112 emergency calls were received reporting that a passenger car was blocking a road and refusing to move in downtown Ulsan.
Police officers dispatched to the scene conducted a breathalyzer test on driver Defendant A, but nothing was detected.
Suspecting drug use, the police brought Defendant A to the police station for a preliminary urine drug screening, but after the result came back negative, Defendant A was allowed to go home.
However, just eight minutes later, reports started coming in again stating that "a car is blocking the road and won't budge."
When police officers rushed back to the scene, it was Defendant A's vehicle once more.
Officers knocked on the driver's side window and shouted loudly, but Defendant A gave no response and just stared blankly with glazed eyes.
Eventually, an officer reached an arm through the slightly open gap of the driver's window, opened the door, and pulled Defendant A out.
Upon searching Defendant A's clothes, police found an e-cigarette device attached with synthetic cannabis and a liquid container presumed to contain synthetic cannabis. When questioned, Defendant A finally confessed, saying, "I smoked synthetic cannabis in the car."
Multiple additional liquid containers and cartridges containing synthetic cannabis were discovered inside Defendant A's car.
It was revealed that Defendant A had smoked synthetic cannabis once again while driving away in his passenger car parked at the police station parking lot after receiving a negative result on the initial quick test.
The court stated the reasoning for the sentencing: "The defendant committed the crime while on probation and under protective supervision for the same type of offense, making the degree of blame heavy, and is attempting to evade responsibility by making excuses."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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