A 20-year-old woman suspected of being the driver of a Range Rover that hit and killed an Irishman in Phnom Penh, and fled the scene on September 28 failed to show up at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday after being summoned for questioning, according to court officials.
Deputy municipal prosecutor Meas Chanpiseth issued a summons earlier this month for Sila Ratanak, 20—who police believe was driving the vehicle that struck Tomas Beecher, 30, as he was walking his bicycle across Monivong Boulevard—to appear at the court for questioning Thursday.
“I have not seen [the suspect] come yet,” Mr. Chanpiseth said at about 2 p.m. Thursday.
Lach Bopha, a court clerk, confirmed after the court closed that Ms. Ratanak did not show.
“[The court] has sent the summons [to the suspect] already but she has not come,” he said.
Mr. Chanpiseth said after issuing the summons that if Ms. Ratanak, the daughter of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Major Hou Sila, failed to heed the summons, the investigating judge in the case could issue an arrest warrant.
He declined to comment Thursday on what the court’s next move would be. “I am managing it,” Mr. Chanpiseth said.
Despite vowing to arrest the driver of the Range Rover in the days following the hit and run, police have failed to track down Ms. Ratanak and now say they are waiting for the court to issue a warrant before making an arrest.
Seng Chanthon, deputy chief of the municipal traffic police’s traffic offense section, said that police did not currently know the whereabouts of Ms. Ratanak.
“We know who the suspect is,” Mr. Chanthon said. “We are waiting to get the arrest warrant from the court but have not received it yet.”
