By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A 36-year-old suspect in the failed hijacking of a cash-in-transit van last month surrendered himself Friday ― but then denied the act.
The Jongno Police Station in Seoul said the suspect, identified only as Ahn, arrived at the station at 4:50 a.m., but said, “I’m innocent.”
He is the suspect the police made public with the release of video footage captured by a surveillance camera near the scene.
“He just appeared one day after we disclosed the images of the suspect,” a police officer said.
The officer quoted the suspect as saying, “I watched a driverless van whose back window was shattered on the day and hopped in the car in order to drive it to a nearby police station.” The vehicle was carrying about 40 million won ($33,000) in cash.
Police said they would thoroughly investigate the suspect.
On July 14, a 155- to 160-centimeter-tall man who looks to be in his 30s broke the window of the vehicle parked in Jongno and tried to drive away. But the scheme was foiled as security guards managed to get into the car and fight with the suspect, leading to the man running away.