Songchi, a man in his 40s, suffered 200 million won in damages by throwing away cigarette butts... Prosecutors decline to indict due to lack of evidence

A man in his 40s who was handed over to the prosecution on charges of starting a fire by throwing a cigarette butt was acquitted.

On March 21st, the Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, a man in his 40s who was sent on charges of misfire. Last year, Mr. A was accused of starting a fire in a pile of trash by throwing a cigarette butt out the window without extinguishing it after smoking inside the house.

The fire caused property damage worth approximately 200 million won, including burning of structures including cars parked nearby and the interior and exterior walls of buildings. The police forwarded the case to the prosecution for reasons such as the fact that the cigarette that Mr. A was smoking and the butt found at the fire scene were the same.

Mr. A denied the charges, saying, “I usually smoke inside the house, but I did not smoke near the window on the day of the incident.” He emphasized, “Because we know that there are usually piles of trash on the first floor, there is no reason to throw lit cigarette butts out the window due to the possibility of a fire.”

Considering that the suspect's residence is located above the scene of the ignition and that cigarette smoke can be seen on CCTV, the prosecution ruled that Mr. A may be the owner of the butt that caused the ignition, but decided not to indict the suspect because they judged that it was impossible to confirm exactly where the butt fell. Also, there was a smoker in another room in the same building at the time of the fire, so there was no evidence to support Mr. A as the owner of the butts.

Choi Seong-ho, a lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm, said, "In order for a crime to be recognized in a criminal case, evidence is needed to convince the person beyond reasonable doubt. There is no data showing that Mr. A threw away the cigarette butt, and he was able to avoid prosecution by raising the possibility that the butt that someone else smoked was blown away by the wind."

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

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True story of 200 million won damage caused by throwing away cigarette butts Songchi, 40s... Prosecution, not indicting due to lack of evidence (link)