"Suffered a Spinal Fracture After Being Hit by My Son," Father Says—Turns Out He Lied to Hide a "Hit-and-Run"

Son in his 30s, indicted on "charges of assaulting a lineal ascendant," acquitted through CCTV analysis and eyewitness testimony

A father who framed his son by claiming to have been assaulted—in order to hide injuries from a hit-and-run traffic accident he himself had caused—was caught in court. The son, who had been referred to trial on charges of assaulting a lineal ascendant, cleared his name and was acquitted.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Goyang Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court recently acquitted A, a man in his 30s indicted on charges of assaulting a lineal ascendant.

A was referred to trial on charges of grabbing his father B by the collar and shoving him—causing serious injuries requiring eight weeks of treatment, including a spinal fracture—amid a conflict over B leaving belongings in a parking lot near A's business last October.

At the time, B stated in the investigative agency's questioning, "My son cursed at me, grabbed me by the collar, dragged me behind the delivery truck, and slammed me to the ground." In contrast, A completely denied the charges, saying, "From the moment I arrived at the scene, my father was walking with a limp, and there was not even any physical contact."

After examining the evidence and circumstances, the court accepted A's argument. The crime-prevention CCTV footage around the scene showed no scene at all of the son dragging or assaulting his father, and a key eyewitness present at the scene also testified that there was no physical violence.

In particular, during the trial, the fact of the "traffic accident" that B had tried to hide came to light, revealing the decisive inside story of the case.

The court pointed out, "B caused an accident a week before the incident in which he was driving while drowsy, rammed a roadside tree, and severely damaged the front of his vehicle," adding, "There are circumstances suggesting that, after causing a hit-and-run traffic accident, he fabricated the cause of the injuries as a dispute with his son in order to hide it."

It continued, "The credibility of B's statement is difficult to acknowledge, and it is also difficult to completely rule out the possibility that the injuries arose from the earlier traffic accident," as the reason for the acquittal.

Attorney Kim Eun-young of the law firm Daeryun, who represented the case, said, "Complaints between family members are often prosecuted relying on the fragmentary statements of the alleged victim, but the specific circumstances leading to the act and the objective situation must be comprehensively judged," adding, "By securing CCTV footage from the early stages of the investigation and systematically reconstructing and presenting evidence—such as the circumstances of the past traffic accident the complainant tried to hide—that could impeach the false claims, we were able to prevent an unjust punishment."

Reporter Son Jong-uk handbell@kyeonggi.com

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"Suffered a Spinal Fracture After Being Hit by My Son," Father Says—Turns Out He Lied to Hide a "Hit-and-Run" (Go to link)