6 victims injured after Bentley crashes into two cars
A millionaire driver crashed his luxury Bentley car into an SUV and a fire rescue pickup on the Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway in Bangkok in the early hours of Sunday, which left six victims injured. The driver fled from the scene and refused to take an alcohol test.
A 53 year old businessman, Suthat Siwapiromrat, crashed his grey Bentley sedan into a fire rescue truck and a black Mitsubishi Pajero Sport SUV after he tried to overtake the two cars on the Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway at 1am yesterday, January 8.
One driver and three passengers from the SUV, including a four-year-old child, as well as two firefighters from the fire rescue pickup, were injured. One of the SUV victims suffered a broken arm while the others escaped with minor injuries.
Thai media added that the crash consequently made the firefighters late to tackle a blaze in the Sukhumvit area.
CCTV on the road revealed that Suthat took a taxi and fled the accident scene. The rescuers ran after the taxi, tried to stop him, and demanded he took an alcohol test. He said he was not drunk and left the scene.
The rescue team also informed the media that they found an opened bottle of wine in Suthat’s car.
The deputy superintendent of Expressway Police Station 1, Phichate Konpaeng, gave an interview with the media yesterday. He said the suspect, Suthat, later surrendered himself to the police and is willing to compensate the victims.
Phichate said Suthat was initially charged with violating Section 43(4) and Section 157 of the Land Transport Act: whoever drives recklessly or dangerously, and that action causes damage to another person’s assets, shall be punished with a fine from 400 baht to 1,000 baht.
Suthat was also charged with violating Section 390 of the Criminal Law: whoever drives recklessly and causes injuries to another person’s body or mind shall be punished with imprisonment up to one month, a fine up to 10,000 baht, or both.
The deputy superintendent reported Suthat would undergo a blood test to measure his alcohol level at the hospital. If it is proven he was drunk, police would issue more charges against Suthat.
The victims and Thai netizens were worried that the suspect would use his power and money to escape the charges and pressured the police and relevant departments to process the case transparently.
Thai media reported that Suthat was on the executive board of seven companies in Thailand including two estate agents, including Thaiwattana Asset and Ektaveesin Development, one instant food production named Touch Me Food, three construction material retail companies including Benefit Development, Maga Work Corporation, and Max Trade, and one fresh market operator named Hatairat Complex.
