KOR
▲ Scene of the incident
"I feel anxious every night as the memory of that day comes back to me. I still cannot drive at night at all."
A 50-something taxi driver, identified as A, expressed that he has not been able to recover from the trauma of the nightmarish incident he experienced while driving last month, even nearly a month later.
On June 10 at 12:44 a.m., A was driving through the Dongcheon Tunnel on the Yongin-Seoul Expressway toward Yongin with a passenger, a 50-something man identified as B, who was intoxicated, when he faced an unexpected assault.
B, who appeared calm when he boarded the taxi at Gangnam Station in Seoul, suddenly demanded that the vehicle be stopped and began choking A, who was driving, with one arm.
Footage of the incident shows A screaming in fear and resisting the sudden attack, while B wraps his arm around A's neck and chokes him.
It is reported that B continued to threaten A for about three minutes, keeping his arm wrapped around A's neck and pulling him backward.
During this process, a dangerous struggle ensued as B lunged to snatch A's mobile phone when A tried to pick it up to call 112.
In a phone call, A described the situation, saying, "I was terrified because this happened while I was driving through a highway tunnel at a speed of over 100 km/h." He added, "Because of the intoxicated passenger's attack, my glasses were knocked off for a moment, making it nearly impossible to see, and I almost caused a major accident by hitting the tunnel wall."
The situation only ended after A managed to pull the vehicle over to the shoulder and reported the incident to the police.
He expressed his anxiety, stating, "Due to that day, I suffered bruises on my neck and was diagnosed with a two-week injury, and I am also receiving psychiatric treatment for acute stress disorder. Because of the shock, I am unable to drive a taxi at night."
The Yongin Seobu Police Station has booked B on charges of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes and has conducted an investigation.
A police official stated, "The suspect is expected to be referred to the prosecution within this week."
(Photo: Provided by A, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
