A bizarre incident occurred in which the police lost the investigation records of a drunk driving case, forgot about them, and only found them later, only to drop the case because the statute of limitations had expired.

On July 29, the Jinju Police Station in Gyeongsangnam-do decided not to send a license-less drunk driving case that occurred about five years and six months ago to the prosecution, citing a lack of right to prosecute.

At the time, the suspect in his 40s, A, was caught driving under the influence at a level subject to license suspension without a driver's license, but ultimately escaped any punishment due to the police's decision not to forward the case.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, which launched a fact-finding investigation, determined that the police officer in charge of the case lost the investigation records, forgot about the case, and recently discovered them. Because of this, the statute of limitations of five years for A's violation of the Road Traffic Act had already passed, resulting in the case being dropped without charges.

It was learned that the officer in charge initially forwarded A with a recommendation for indictment without detention, but after receiving a request for supplementary investigation from the prosecution, lost the records and forgot about the case entirely.

This case reportedly came to light last month during a comprehensive investigation conducted by the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters at the request of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office into long-unreturned cases involving requests for supplementary investigation. It was found that besides this case, there are numerous other cases that were closed or are on the verge of being closed without punishment due to lost investigation records.

In mid-this month at the Namhae Police Station, it was confirmed that investigation records for a case involving suspected violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which had been under investigation since 2019, were also belatedly found to have been lost. Likewise, because the five-year statute of limitations had passed, the case was ultimately closed without charges.

In this case as well, the police had even forwarded the case with a recommendation for indictment, but after receiving a request for supplementary investigation from the prosecution, the records were lost, leaving no one to be punished.

Legal circles believe that cases with lost investigation records face the possibility of evidence contamination years after the fact, making it difficult to maintain prosecution even if reinvestigated and brought to trial.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency plans to conduct a fact-finding investigation into the police officers who lost the investigation records to determine whether there was any intent, and proceed with disciplinary inspections if necessary.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Ryu Ji-su | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News