Policeman injured by drunk-driving Air Force officer
A policeman was hit and injured by a drunk-driving Air Force officer at a road checkpoint in Bangkok's Lak Si district early on Monday.
Pilot Officer Thanapol Thongkham, 32, an officer of the Royal Thai Air Force's Directorate of Communications and Electronics, was arrested following the 3am accident in front of Soi Chaeng Wattana 6.
Pol Senior Sgt-Maj Sakda Chapu, 45, an officer with Thung Song Hong police, was hit by Thanapol’s car, causing him to fall unconscious.
Thanapol said he had not spotted the policeman. He admitted seeing the flashing lights at the checkpoint but had not slowed down.
He said he had been drinking with a friend at a restaurant in Lak Si to celebrate achieving his master’s degree and was driving home when the friend phoned him and asked him to go back and fetch him. He said the accident occurred while he was on his way back to the restaurant.
Pol Capt Thammapakorn Thamrongpatthama, deputy inspector of Thung Song Hong police, said Thanapol’s blood-alcohol level was found to be 256 per cent higher than the legal limit for driving.
Thammapakorn said the injured policeman was now in stable and safe condition at the Police Hospital
but doctors would need to continue monitoring his head injuries for several days.