Society

Drunken driver boasts father is a police official

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-20 07:22

BEIJING - Students at Baoding-based Hebei University have rallied online to demand severe punishment for the drunken driver who bragged he is the son of a police official after being accused of killing a girl and knocking down another in a hit-and-run on Saturday.

"Sue me if you can ... my father is Li Gang!" the driver reportedly said.

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The 22-year-old driver's threats, directed at security guards and students who stopped him from fleeing the scene, have come under attack on the university's online forum.

Li Gang was later identified by China News Service as deputy director of the public security bureau of Beishi district of Baoding city in North China's Hebei province.

Li Qiming, the driver, has been arrested for traffic offense.

According to a statement that the Baoding public security bureau released on Monday night, the driver was drunk while driving the car.

The statement did not make it clear Li Qiming is the son of Li Gang, but said: "Everyone is equal before the law. No matter who the person is, the violator will receive punishments strictly according to law."

A black Volkswagen Magotan hit the girls on the Hebei University campus at about 9:40 pm on Saturday, according to the statement.

The two girls were roller-skating and witnesses said they were thrown high in the air by the collision and were hit again when they fell on the car's windshield and mirror.

The driver did not stop, but kept going and was intercepted by security guards and students near the school gate, according to the police statement.

Surrounded by about 50 people and asked to step out of the car, the driver said aloud to the crowd without a sense of sorrow that he is the son of Li Gang, local media quoted witnesses as saying.

Traffic police asserted he was drunken driving based on a blood sample.

One of the girls surnamed Chen, 20, from Shijiazhuang city of the province, died the day after the accident. Another girl suffered fractures in her left leg and remained hospitalized.

Both are freshman students, local media reported.

About 100 students at the university lit 12 candles and mourned the victims for an hour at the scene on the chilly Sunday evening. Their condolences and best wishes for the injured girl's recovery were as equally strong as their anger toward the so-called second generation of officials.

Bitter words and criticism of Li Qiming's "lawless" attitude have filled an entry atop the university's internal bulletin board system.

One going by the name Tiandu posted: "It is intolerable if such a guy is not punished severely."

"A father who raised a son like this would be no good," the netizen said, adding that he was too angry to calm down.

Netizens said Li Qiming should be arrested for threatening public security in a dangerous way, a much heavier crime than a traffic offense.

Wang Xianli, a lawyer from the Beijing office of JoinWay Law Firm, said the charge of traffic offense may not proceed smoothly in court since the charge applies to cases on roads and does not include campus living areas.