Police officers take the driver of a car to the spot in Pujian Road, Pudong, where he knocked down and killed a pedestrian on Thursday.(Photo/Shanghai Daily)
A 32-year-old driver, who knocked down a pedestrian that led to his death on Thursday, has claimed that he was driving under the influence of alcohol.
The incident caused a stir citywide after the victim's girlfriend uploaded a video footage of the Audi car ramming into her boyfriend near a shopping mall on Pujian Road in Pudong and driving away. The driver, a used car salesman, surrendered to the police on Saturday.
Police said they received a report about an hit-and-run incident at around 9:15pm on Thursday. The 28-year-old victim, surnamed Wei, was rushed to the hospital but died of brain hemorrhage on Friday.
After watching the surveillance videos, police discovered that the driver, surnamed Qi, had dinner with his friends at a restaurant the same day. They managed to track down his company, only to be told that it had also lost contact with Qi.
Police said the car did not belong to Qi, who had only taken it out for registration purposes for the company.
The surveillance videos show Qi entering the shopping center and speeding up when he knocks down Wei. Qi did not stop his car, instead he drove away quickly, damaging a few barriers of the shopping complex on his way out.
Police found the car in a used-car market on Saturday. Qi surrendered himself to police the same day.
Qi claimed that he had some drinks when he was at the wheel of the car although the police blood test for alcohol content was negative.
Qi said after the incident on Friday, he fled to his hometown Yancheng in Jiangsu Province. His wife convinced him to surrender to police.
Qi said he was driving at 40 kilometers per hour and could not brake in time when he saw Wei, knocking him down fatally.
