Malaysian, American Arrested After Hit-and-Run

A 28-year-old Malaysian woman and her American boyfriend were arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning after they hit a tuk-tuk full of passengers with their Mercedes SUV and then sped away, police said.

Sem Kunthea, municipal deputy traffic police chief, said that at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday, the Malaysian woman crashed the SUV she was driving into a tuk-tuk on Sisowath Quay in Daun Penh district’s Chey Chumneah commune after leaving a party on Koh Pich island.

“When she drove in front of the Royal Palace, the car was swerving and then crashed into the left side of the tuk-tuk, injuring four people,” he said, noting that the injuries were minor.

Mr. Kunthea refused to identify the Malaysian woman, but named the American man in the car as Vic Boyle. He said both had been drinking before the accident.

“After the crash, the American replaced her as the driver and sped from the scene,” he said. “They sped from the scene because they were scared local people would attack them.”

Mr. Kunthea said police and military police pursued the SUV and pulled it over on Street 214 in Boeng Raing commune.

“Police and military police followed them and arrested them about 1.5 km from the scene,” Mr. Kunthea said.

Mr. Kunthea said that Mr. Boyle was released from police custody on Saturday.

“We brought them in for questioning at the municipal traffic police station, but we released the U.S. man later because he was not the driver,” he said.

“However, we are detaining the Malaysian and brought her for questioning at the court Monday, accused of causing injuries while driving.”

Mr. Boyle, who identifies himself on the professional networking website LinkedIn as the general manager of a company called S.S. Digital Media Advertising, could not be reached Sunday.

Photographs published in local media of the arrest and its aftermath appear to show that Mr. Boyle’s companion was Edrea Chua, a Malaysian woman whose photograph also appears on Mr. Boyle’s Facebook profile, where she is identified as his girlfriend.

Taing An, a municipal traffic police officer working on the case, said the Malaysian woman was questioned by the municipal court Sunday, but not charged with a crime.

“This morning the municipal court deputy prosecutor Um Sopheak questioned her about that case but he did not charge her yet,” he said. “She is still detained at the municipal traffic police station.”

Soeun Saroeun, another municipal traffic police officer working on the case, said the court would resume questioning the Malaysian woman Monday.

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