A routine traffic accident turned into an overnight stand-off with police after one of the motorists fled the scene by scaling a tall tree refusing to come down for eight hours, police said on Monday.
Police commissioner in the northwestern province of Battambang, Colonel Chuop Porith, said that the former soldier, identified only as Hun (55) collided with a young man on a motorbike at an intersection, breaking the other man’s leg.
But instead of helping police with the investigation, Hun appeared to panic, telling bystanders he was scared of going to jail before jogging for about a kilometre until he found a tall tree, which he scaled and then refused to come down.
”The hospital doesn’t know what is wrong, but it must be a mental problem. If you have a normal accident you should not run up a tree — you should negotiate and pay compensation,” Colonel Porith said.
He said the man screamed for legal help but refused to speak with police for the duration of his stay in the tree, which lasted from midnight until 8am the next morning.
”It seems he was already upset because he believed his wife was having an affair with another man, and the accident was the last straw. But without police to rescue him from the tree he would have died. That is a very tall tree,” Colonel Porith said.
He said police were extremely concerned for the man’s safety after he repeatedly threatened to hang himself if anyone approached, but eventually managed to reach him by commandeering a passing pick-up truck and climbing up to the man to reassure him and coax him down.
Colonel Porith added that a relative eventually paid $125 in compensation to the injured motorcyclist’s family and police will now probably leave Hun in the care of the hospital until he feels better. – Sapa-DPA