Students charged over roadside beating

RASSADA: Two second-year university students were arrested after allegedly assaulting a man at an accident scene on Soi Phaneang on July 2.

When Phuket City police arrived at the scene, they found the two students, named by police as “Wit”, 22, and “Karine”, 23, both from Pattani province, beating 30-year-old Jaroonsak Khongjit, an employee of Phuket Adventure company.

Pol Capt Atthapol Wannasaengthong of Phuket City Police Station told the Gazette that the incident happened after the students’ motorcycle and Jaroonsak’s motorcycle bumped while they were riding on Soi Phaneang.

The collision caused the student’s motorcycle to crash to the ground. K. Jaroonsak was assaulted when he went to apologize to the students, said Capt Atthapol.

“I asked them why they beat him and they said that they were angry,” he said.

“People at the scene reported that one of them had a gun and used the gun to hit Jaroonsak. When we frisked them we found a homemade gun with bullets,” Capt Atthapol added.

Both students were charged with committing bodily harm and illegal possession of a firearm.