Pathum thani: A six-wheeled truck crashed through a checkpoint, sideswiping a police patrol motorcycle that was chasing it, causing the motorcycle to swerve and hit a roadside utility pole. The driver then fled during the ensuing chaos. One police officer died and another was injured. Footage from a CCTV camera near the scene of the accident shows a white truck with a Pathum Thani license plate driving straight ahead before swerving to the right, veering and colliding with the police patrol car that was following it. The police car then lost control and crashed into a utility pole, resulting in the deaths and injuries of several officers.
According to Thai News Agency, this incident occurred yesterday evening. Police Lieutenant Colonel Boonseart Kingkaes, the investigating officer at Lam Luk Ka Police Station, received a report of an accident and led officers to the scene on the road parallel to the Kanchanaphisek Expressway, near the Thanyaburi toll booth, kilometer 26, Moo 13, Bueng Kham Phroi Subdistrict, Lam Luk Ka District, Pathum Thani Province. At the scene, they found a brown patrol motorcycle, license plate number 31612 (police shield emblem), severely damaged with parts scattered across the road. Nearby, they found the body of the deceased, identified as Police Sergeant Major Chaiwat, 25 years old, a squad leader in the crime prevention and suppression unit of Thanyaburi Police Station, who was the passenger on the motorcycle. Police Corporal Kowit, 40 years old, from the same unit, was the driver and sustained injuries including abrasions and a puncture wound to his right leg.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Peerapol Chotikasetthian, Commander of the Pathum Thani Provincial Police, revealed that before the incident, the two officers were manning a checkpoint as part of a crime prevention plan under the Kanchanaphisek Expressway bridge in Bueng Yitho Subdistrict, Thanyaburi District. During this time, they noticed a suspicious six-wheeled truck and signaled it to stop for inspection. However, the driver accelerated and fled onto the Kanchanaphisek Expressway service road. The officers pursued the truck on motorcycles for over 5 kilometers before their patrol car was forced off course by the truck, crashing into a utility pole, as shown in the CCTV footage. The truck driver then took advantage of the chaos and escaped.
Initially, the Commander of the Pathum Thani Provincial Police ordered investigative teams from Thanyaburi and Lam Luk Ka Police Stations to work with forensic officers to meticulously collect evidence, including checking CCTV footage along the escape route to determine if the truck driver intentionally rammed or caused an accident involving the officers. He confirmed that the suspect will be pursued and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.