Police officer’s thumb reattached after drunk driver bites it off

A police officer in Hualien City had to have his thumb reattached by surgeons after a drunk driver bit it off while resisting arrest.

Police on a routine patrol in Meilun District, Monday night, November 8, stopped an elderly man after he was seen going through a red light and appearing unstable while riding an electric scooter. The 71-year-old man, named Liu, refused to cooperate with a roadside alcohol breath test, claiming that he was a retired civil servant, and naming a contingent of high-ranking officials in the police department, fire bureau, and county government as personal friends.

When police persisted he was still required to undergo an alcohol breath test, regardless of his panoply of influential friends, Mr Liu threatened to commit suicide, threw himself on the ground, and started to bash his head into the pavement. Police restrained Liu to prevent him self-harming, however, when they attempted to put him into the patrol car, Liu bit down on an officers thumb, severing it at the first joint, then spitting into the patrol car.

The injured officer, named Wang, insisted on getting Liu back to the police station before going to the Tzu Chi Hospital to have the severed digit reattached.

Liu was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.65mg/l, and was charged with the crime of endangering the public, injury, and obstructing officials.

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