A U.S. citizen was handed off to U.S. Embassy officials after being beaten by a mob and then detained by Cambodian police on Friday for allegedly stealing a truck and causing traffic accidents in Phnom Penh, an official said on Sunday.
Jacob Gadikian, who is about 50, was arrested after taking a sand truck from a construction site near Koh Pich bridge and driving about 2.5 km to the Night Market in Daun Penh district’s Phsar Kandal I commune, said Uk Heisela, chief of investigations at the Interior Ministry’s immigration department.
Local media reported that the man crashed the truck into motorbikes and cars.
Embassy officials went to the district police station on Saturday and asked to take the man for medical treatment, Major General Heisela said.
“He looked like a crazy man and like he was using drugs,” he said, adding that Mr. Gadikian would not be charged as no one was reported injured.
Embassy spokesman Jay Raman said in an email that the embassy was offering consular assistance to a U.S. citizen arrested on Friday, declining to name the citizen due to privacy laws.
