Hit and Run Driver Released Without Charge

The 28-year-old driver of a Toyota Camry who rear-ended a young woman on her motorbike in Phnom Penh on Monday and then attempted to flee the scene was released by traffic police Tuesday and will not be charged.

“We released him because the victim wasn’t seriously injured and the victim took $50 in compensation and did not complain to the court,” municipal traffic police officer Tin Vansy said.

He identified the driver of the car as Chea Sovanrith, who is employed at the Commerce Ministry’s Camcontrol department and whose father works at the National Bank of Cambodia. He added that Mr. Sovanrith was released because he only fled for fear of retaliation from witnesses of the crash.

In a separate case, police continued to refuse to name the driver or owner of a Range Rover that hit and killed Irish national Tomas Beecher on Monivong Boulevard early Sunday morning.

Sem Kunthea, the deputy municipal traffic police chief in charge of the case, who previously identified the SUV’s owner as a tourist police officer, declined to comment Tuesday.

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