Vietnamese cop accused of drunk driving in fatal car crash

August 8, 2016 | 04:08 am PT
Vietnamese cop accused of drunk driving in fatal car crash
The scene of the accident where a Vietnamese cop allegedly slammed his car into two motorbikes on Sunday, killing one. File photo
One man died after the officer allegedly slammed his car into two motorbikes.

Police in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang said Monday they have pressed criminal charges against a local officer after he allegedly ran over a man and killed him while under the influence of alcohol.

But the police did not say if they have arrested the officer. The provincial prosecutors' office is considering ratifying the charges.

Initial investigations found that Nguyen Son Thanh from their Mobile Police Divisionwas intoxicated when he drove a car carrying three passengers across the central reservation and slammed into two stationary motorbikes on Sunday.

(In Vietnam, the mobile police division is a permanent taskforce that can be assigned to work independently or cooperate with other divisions against a wide range of crimes, from causing public disturbances to terrorism.)

A man riding one of the two motorbikes, identified as Bui Minh Phung, 32,  ​​from Tien Giang's Chau Thanh District, was killed. Police said Thanh had only recently obtained his driving license.  

One officer said that Thanh stank of alcohol while being questioned at police headquarters after the accident.

Last September, a Hanoi court sentenced a drunk-driving policeman to four years and six months in prison after convicting him of killing a woman and injured another in a crash in December 2014.

Since 2012 many provinces across Vietnam have issued a ban on civil servants from drinking during lunch on working days.

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