Illegal taxi driver brought back to Shanghai after 20 days on the run
An illegal taxi driver was brought back to Shanghai on June 14 after he fled from checkpoints twice and injured a law enforcement officer on May 17.
The driver, surnamed Fan, was spotted by a team of officers in the Pudong New Area around 7:15pm that day.
After cross checking with the database from the traffic authority, officers found that although Fan’s car looked like a taxi from Haibo, the plate belonged to a company called Qianwei.
The officers tailed Fan until he stopped at a set of traffic lights. But when they asked Fan to step out, he suddenly fled, hitting one of the officers.
Fan’s car nudged the officer into another car waiting at the traffic light before he fled from the scene.
The officer’s right hand was severely lacerated and required stitches. His knee and foot were also contused.
About one hour later, officers again traced Fan down at the junction of Shangnan and Chengshan roads in Pudong, but Fan knocked over a guardrail on the street and fled using the bicycle lane.
Police and traffic authorities soon tracked down Fan’s address, but by the time officers arrived the next day he was long gone. Another plate was put on his car which Fan left behind, while the original fake license plate was found in a rubbish bin near his neighborhood.
Police launched a nationwide hunt on May 24.
On June 6, Fan was captured in Qiqihar, a city in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, about 2,500 kilometers away from Shanghai.
Fan is now under detention for the crime of endangering public affairs and his driver’s license has been revoked.
Further investigation is still ongoing, and Fan may face more charges if the officers confirm the plate they found at his residence was a fake, the city’s traffic authority said.
The vehicle Fan disguised as a normal taxi. The right front side was damaged when Fan was trying to flee.
