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(Herald DB) |
South Korean police are investigating a case in which three young men fled without paying for their three hour, 40-minute taxi ride, local media reported Tuesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the police have acquired the DNA evidence of the suspects left on the seat they sat on, along with the black box footage of the car that shows all of their faces. Officers also have their phone numbers, which they used to hail the cab through the Kakao T application.
The incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday when the three young men, seemingly in their 20s, called the cab in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province. They asked the driver in his 50s to take them to Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, which cost them 430,000 won ($317) in fare including the freeway toll.
When they arrived at the destination, they claimed that the fare has been transferred to the driver's bank account. While the driver was checking the bank application on his phone, the three passengers ran away.
An official of the cab company said that the suspects appear to be very young, based on the footage of the black box, and that the officials would have their identity in a week at most because they left their actual phone numbers.
Not paying a taxi fare is defined as a minor offense by South Korean law, the maximum punishment for which is 100,000 won. But in rare cases, evaders can be punished for fraud, if it can be proven that the passenger had no intention of paying the fare in the first place.
