A gold shop owner was arrested on Friday night after electrically shocking a traffic policeman who had determined he was responsible for a crash, police said yesterday.

Deputy Phnom Penh police chief Brigadier General Chuon Narin said the suspect had been accused of beating a traffic officer and zapping him with an electroshock weapon.

“He will be sent to court on Monday,” Narin said, adding that police were seeking charges of assaulting an officer.

Though Narin declined to give in-depth details of the case, a Chamkarmon district police officer, who asked not be named, told the Post that Ly Bunheng, 53, was driving with two young women he had met at a nightclub when a motorbike drove into the back of his Lexus.

A local traffic policeman arrived at the scene and determined that both drivers were at fault “because they were driving very fast”, according to the police officer.

Unhappy with the policeman’s response, Bunheng, who appeared drunk, got “angry with the policeman, complaining that the motorbike had hit his car from behind”.

Furious the policeman hadn’t decided in his favour, he slapped him across the face. He then returned to his car, retrieved an electroshock weapon and shocked the police officer.

Bunheng was arrested on the scene by other police officers who had since arrived.

His car was impounded and he was taken to Chamkarmon district police station for questioning before being sent to Phnom Penh municipal police headquarters. The motorbike driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Neither the accused nor his defence counsel could be reached for comment.