Hustling gets hairy in capital’s Sen Sok district

A 34-year-old tuk-tuk driver allegedly soliciting customers at a bus stop in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district on Tuesday got a lot more than he’d asked for after he came to blows with a competitor. Police said that after a bus arrived at the stop, the two drivers’ attempts to vie for customers led to a scuffle, and the 36-year-old driver injured the younger man’s left arm. His injuries left him hospitalised. Police arrested the arm-twister  the following day, after the victim’s family made a complaint. Koh Santepheap

Chair-bashing chap now chairman of cell block  

If you booze, you lose. This adage rang all too true for one 17-year-old youth in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district this week. The young man was arrested on Tuesday for drunkenly attacking another party-goer with a plastic chair last year, leaving him with head injuries. After the victim’s family filed a police complaint, the court issued a warrant for the alleged attacker’s arrest, and on Tuesday he came back to find police waiting for him outside his home. The rueful ruffian confessed to the chair-bashing. Rasmey Kampuchea

Serial thief seriously snagged by capital cops

He'd stretched his arm out to snatch mobile phones, bags, even motorbikes. But yesterday the 32-year-old thief himself finally got snagged by the long arm of the law. After numerous complaints, police spent a month searching for the serial offender before finally putting his dastardly ways to an end. They found several mobile phones and a motorbike in his possession, and sent him to court. Nokorwat

Driver of luxury vehicle slams into moto rider

A 32-year-old man was critically injured on Wednesday in a traffic accident in Kandal’s Kien Svay district. Police said the victim was riding his motorbike home when a Lexus crashed into him, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with back and head injuries. In a bid to get out of further responsibility, the car’s 30-year-old driver gave the victim $50 to drop the case – much to the umbrage of onlookers. Nokorwat

Drive-by thieves target elderly woman on bike

A 20-year-old man in Battambang province’s Thma Koul district, on his way to see his parents on Tuesday, found himself staring down the barrel of a gun instead. The young man was robbed of his motorbike, $5 and a mobile phone after his two armed assailants chased him on another moto. The victim, who was not hurt, told police that one of the suspects wore a helmet, while the other had a mask on. District police have been placed on lookout.  Rasmey Kampuchea  

Translated by Phak Seangly