A court has rejected an arrest warrant for a woman in her 30s accused of setting fire while drunk to the parking lot of a low-rise multi-unit home in Seoul's Songpa district.
Senior Judge Yang Hwan-seung of the Seoul Eastern District Court, who handles warrant reviews, held a pre-detention hearing on the 20th for the suspect, identified only as A, who faces charges of arson of an occupied structure. The judge rejected the warrant, saying the suspect "has a fixed address and poses no risk of flight or destruction of evidence."
Arriving at the court at about 1:52 p.m. that day, A told reporters she "did not know" the fire would spread across the entire parking lot. Asked whether she had acted impulsively while drunk, she answered, "Yes."
A is accused of setting the fire at about 12:37 a.m. on the 18th of this month in the first-floor parking lot of a low-rise multi-unit home in Munjeong-dong, Songpa district, Seoul.
The building is owned by A's mother, and the two were living on different floors of the property, according to reports.
In questioning by police, A said she resented that her mother collected waste paper for a living and that she set fire to the paper her mother had gathered after drinking, according to accounts of the investigation.
The fire, which broke out in a parking lot built on an open pilotis ground floor, left eight residents with minor injuries, including smoke inhalation. Three vehicles were destroyed.