Man taking out garbage gets treated like trash

A 36-year-old man was badly beaten on Tuesday for placing a trashcan near a group of men getting trashed in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. Police said that, angered by the man’s rubbish choice of bin placement, the wine-drinkers rose as one and pummelled him. They then escaped before the arrival of the cops, who are searching for them. The bin-placer was sent to hospital. Rasmey Kampuchea

Kids these days: cops stop sword rumble

Police in Daun Penh district on Tuesday detained three high school students after stopping them from using swords to settle a score in the middle of a public road. Police said they took the youngsters, whose argument had transformed into a battle of blades, into custody at the police station after neighbours complained. Later, the students’ parents arrived at the station and asked police to pardon a little harmless swordplay.  Rasmey  Kampuchea

Roommates become room-enemies in capital

In yet another recent misdeed in Daun Penh district, a 19-year-old who’d had a long time to eye the jewelry he ended up stealing was arrested for the theft on Wednesday and sent to court. Cops said the suspect, who lived in the same house as the owner of the purloined ring and bracelet, crept into his supposed friend’s room while he was sleeping and made off with the loot. When the forsaken friend awoke, he noticed the items missing and filed a complaint to police, who caught the nefarious neighbour while he was trying to escape.  Kampuchea Thmey

Foot-dragging thieves get dragged to the pen

The good memory of police after a necklace-snatching victim – and the three thieves’ failure to hide or sell the item after a week – enabled police to catch the trio in Kratie town on Tuesday. The necklace owner said she recognised the men as they took the trinket, though they apparently did not recognise her, and helped point police toward catching the three with the necklace still on one of them. Police sent the men to court and returned the necklace.  Koh Santepheap

‘Secluded’ crime scene not secluded enough

Two thieves in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district on Tuesday thought having a moto driver take them to a secluded spot would make it easy to steal the vehicle from him, but they ended up making themselves easy targets for police patrolling the area. Police said the robbers were attempting to make off with the motorcycle when they stepped in, arrested the pair and sent them to court.  Koh Santepheap

Translated by Sen David