Man who allegedly threatened temple visitor with replica gun arrested after 31-mile chase

 A man was arrested after allegedly threatening a visitor with a replica gun at a Buddhist temple and leading police on a chase in Jinju, South Gyeongsang, authorities said on Thursday.

The Jinju Police Station said that it is investigating the man on charges of special intimidation and special obstruction of performance of official duties under the Criminal Act.

The incident occurred at a temple’s parking lot at around 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday. The man got into his car and drove away from the scene, not stopping even after hitting another visitor who tried to block his escape.

Police pursued the suspect for about 50 kilometers (31 miles) after setting up roadblocks along his escape route.

The man rammed three patrol vehicles and one vehicle belonging to a police detective unit while attempting to evade arrest.

Police eventually stopped the suspect’s vehicle by blocking his path and firing two warning shots and four live rounds.

They then broke the driver’s side window with a baton and used a taser to subdue and arrest the man.

“We plan to seek an arrest warrant after questioning the suspect about how he obtained the replica gun and what motivated the alleged crimes,” said a police official.

BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]