Drunk Top Cop Fires Five Shots At Married Couple In Car

Story BySimon GloverSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyAsia Wire Report

Video Credit: AsiaWire/FreshNews

This is the moment a high-ranking cop is filmed firing off five shots at a Range Rover with a married couple inside in a drunken road rage incident.

Brigadier General Duong Nakry, 47, the deputy director of the Cambodian Ministry of Interior’s criminal investigation department, is accused of the bizarre attack in the country’s capital city of Phnom Penh.

Neither of the couple were injured but the woman was so frightened that she fainted and the rear windscreen of their car was completely destroyed.

Pictures Credit: AsiaWire

Nakry allegedly chased after the couple in his Nexus car in the early hours, pulled them over and demanded that driver Phoris Storann, 34, get out of the vehicle to apologise for overtaking him.

Mr Storann denied overtaking the cop and drove off. But Nakry then allegedly jumped back into his Lexus and gave chase eventually pulling up the couple further down the road.

The angry police officer reportedly got out of his car and walked toward the victims’ Range Rover before pulling out his gun and firing five bullets into their rear window.

Neither Mr Storann nor his wife, Taing Sokleng, 31, were injured but Mrs Sokleng was so shocked by the incident that she fainted, according to the police.

Police spokesman Colonel Em Saravuth said: “He was drunk and was angry at the victim for overtaking his car.

“The bullets did not hit the victims. Ms Sokleng, however, lost consciousness due to shock. She was frightened by the clash.”

Nakry drove off in his car but was later arrested following a storm of protest on social media without which human rights campaigners said they feared the case would have been covered up.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Ly Sophana confirmed: “The prosecutor ruled to launch an investigation on charges of attempted murder and unauthorised use of a weapon.”

Cambodia’s most senior police officer, Neth Savoeun, has also ordered an internal disciplinary investigation into the actions of Nakry who has apologised to the couple and paid them an undisclosed amount of compensation.

If convicted of attempted murder, Nakry would face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and up to two years’ jail and a fine of up to two million KHR (376 GBP) on the firearms charge.

Soeung Sen Karuna, spokesman for human rights group Adhoc, said he believed Nakry would have got away with the shooting but for the reaction on social media.

He said: “Sometimes, if events are not leaked, there are cover-ups, and acts go unpunished.”

However, National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun insisted Nakry had been dealt with appropriately.