Just less than month after he was arrested for allegedly trying to evade his military service, Taiwanese actor Wang Ta Lu has found himself implicated in yet another criminal act.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the 33-year-old is being investigated for attempted murder after he reportedly attacked an Uber driver last year.
Evidence of Ta Lu allegedly instigating an assault was found in his confiscated mobile phone by the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office. They were investigating his purported military service evasion and for forging a medical document.
The actor was out on a TW$150,000 (S$6,120) bail at that time.
According to Taiwanese media, on April 18, 2024, Ta Lu booked a ride-hailing service from Taipei’s Da’an District to his registered residence in Xinyi District.
During the ride, he thought the driver had taken a detour resulting in a longer trip, which led to both parties getting into a quarrel.
After getting off the car, Ta Lu realised he’d left his keys in the car and began pounding on the window with his fists when he was unable to open the door. That then escalated into another quarrel with the driver.
Ta Lu was said to have recorded the vehicle’s license plate number and complained about the incident to his friend, You Hsiang-min, whom the media has described as someone from a “rich family”.
Hsiang-min then offered to help track down the driver. He allegedly hired three to four gangsters to beat up the driver, who had to be hospitalised.
The case is now investigated as an attempted murder, and prosecutors have begun conducting searches on Tuesday (Mar 4).
Ta Lu, who’s out on a TW$5mil (S$204K) bail, and Hsiang-min have also been brought back for questioning while arrest warrants have been issued for other suspects involved in the case.
After interrogation, prosecutors also said that the pair are suspected of incitement to commit bodily harm under the Criminal Code and violations of the Personal Data Protection Act.
They have also requested court permission to detain both individuals and hold them incommunicado based on the risk that they could try to flee, collude or destroy evidence.
On top of that, Ta Lu has been accused of colluding with the gangsters and is involved in loansharking too.
“If people don’t pay up, he would ask his sidekicks to beat the person up. There might be pictures of the victims getting tortured but he wasn’t the one directly inflicting harm on them, it was those working under him,” a whistle-blower told Taiwanese media SET News.