Cops: suspect kept theft all in the family

It's not clear what the rules are for ending one’s relationship with one’s god brother, but a 31-year-old construction worker may have begun the process last week when he stole said relation’s motorbike. Police said the man’s 47-year-old god brother asked him to use his bike to go buy food, but instead of returning, the suspect drove the bike to his home province of Kampong Speu. The bike’s owner filed a complaint with police, which circulated the bike’s plate number and used it to arrest the false god brother. Nokorwat

Man takes flight after causing head-on crash

A 21-year-old medical student learned on Saturday that her medical know-how could not always spare her from others’ carelessness. Police said the student was driving with her 15-year-old brother on a motorbike in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district when a man speeding on another bike in the opposite direction crashed into them, leaving the student with a broken leg and her brother slightly injured. Unable to restart his bike, the man left it and escaped on foot. Kampuchea Thmey

Hapless tractor thieves caught stealing again

Two men in Takeo’s Angkor Borei district failed for the second time to get away with stealing a tractor on Friday. The two men snuck into a farmer’s yard in the early hours of Wednesday, took the tractor and hid it in an abandoned field while they looked for someone to buy it, police said. But the farmer filed a complaint to police, who questioned the two men because they had tried to steal a tractor once before. They confessed and showed police where they hid it. Koh Santepheap

Victim gets wallet back, minus more than $300

A Singaporean man in Phnom Penh was happy to have his stolen wallet returned on Friday but less happy it no longer contained the $370 it had held when four men took it on Wednesday. The man also regained his Singaporean ID, driver licence and four bank cards when police arrested two of the four alleged thieves, but the two said they and their friends had spent all the money. Police sent them to court and are searching for the other two. Rasmey Kampuchea

Robbery fails as pair falls victim to nerves

Two alleged necklace snatchers in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district let panic get the better of them when confronted with some coordinated police work on Friday. Police said they heard the shouts of the woman whose necklace the two had taken and used their walkie-talkies to call up other cops to intercept them. Seeing their way blocked, the pair panicked and toppled off their bike – and into arrest. NOKORWAT

Translated by Phak Seangly