Men accused of 'stealing' 125,000 lost golf balls
/ Courtesy of Iksan Police Station
By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-soo
Five people have been accused of “stealing” golf balls from water hazards, police said Friday. They collected nearly 125,000 lost golf balls worth 22.5 million won ($19,600) from 22 golf courses between March and June. They harvested the balls by diving into the water hazards at night.
The five were caught at a golf course in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, on June 15.
They were charged with special theft and will soon stand trial. But whether they will be punished is up in the air because there are court cases in which unauthorized lost golf ball collectors were not found guilty.
In 2011, the Daegu District Court acquitted a man who had been indicted for collecting 1,670 lost balls without a golf course’s permission. The court said the lost balls were considered ownerless goods, for which the golf course couldn’t claim possession.