Six people taken into custody for Orchid Island incidents

Six people have been taken into custody by Taitung police after scores of angry Orchid Island residents looked to take revenge on a tourist who was involved in an incident with a local man earlier in the day.

 

The angry mob first surrounded a barbecue restaurant on the island on Saturday night and shouted profanities at tourists, asking them to hand over the person they were looking for, surnamed Chien (簡), according to a video of the incident.

 

They then stormed in to attack an unidentified man, scaring families and children and resulting in an injury to the left foot of a tourist surnamed Huang (黃), according to a statement by the Taitung Police Precinct.

 

The incident is believed to have stemmed from a road rage altercation between Chien and a local man in front of an elementary school at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

According to local media, Chien allegedly threatened the local man, surnamed Shih (施), with a knife, which prompted local residents to take justice into their own hands. No other details on the altercation between Chien and Shih were available.

 

Six people involved in the incidents have been detained by the police, consisting of Chien, Shih, and four members of the group that gathered at the barbecue restaurant, police said.

 

The six will be handed over to the Taitung District Prosecutors Office for allegedly disrupting public order and causing injury, according to police.

 

An additional 20 police officers were also dispatched from Taitung City to Orchid Island by boat to help in the investigation of the incidents, the police said.

 

 

 

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel