Crime
“Live Video” Woman Arrested for Drunk Driving Kicks Police Officer in the Face
A former senior IT executive for Google Cloud who made headlines for kicking a police officer in the face after being pulled over for drunk driving has denied having faced a drunk driving charge two years prior.
The 51-year-old woman, identified only as Ms Monsinee, told her side of the tale on Saturday, following an incident at an alcohol checkpoint in Bangkok’s Suan Luang area earlier this week.
Late Tuesday night, police officers stationed at a checkpoint alongside the Suan Luang expressway stopped a Mercedes-Benz and tested the driver. Her blood alcohol level was 104 milligrams, much exceeding the legal limit of 50.
When authorities attempted to detain her, she fought and scolded them with foul language. As they led her to a police vehicle, she abruptly kicked Pol Lt Col Darathorn Khajornsilp, who was ready to close the vehicle’s door. Her foot impacted him on the right cheek.
Pol Lt Col Darathorn, deputy superintendent of Traffic Police Division 5, was wearing a crash helmet and was unharmed, however he did incur some facial bruises. The woman was then led to the Prawet police station.
Ms Monsinee faces charges of driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, resisting arrest, and physical assault. According to a police source, she simply admitted to driving while impaired.
According to local media accounts, authorities charged Ms Monsinee with drunk driving in August 2022. But on Saturday, she said that wasn’t true. In telephone contacts with Thai media, she also stated that she had already spoken with Pol Lt Col Darathorn about the event on Tuesday. She didn’t elaborate.
She declined to answer the question of whether she was physically assaulted at the time, claiming she would only give her statement in court.
In a video of the encounter that has gone viral online, the woman is heard calling the officers “low class”. She said that the video was altered and that she had stated other things as well.
However, she acknowledged that the word she was heard saying was probably the strongest she had ever uttered because she was not used to using that type of language. In any event, she insisted she had not scolded anyone. She also said she wasn’t inebriated at the time.
Pol Lt Col Darathorn Khajornsilp points to his cheek where a motorist kicked him: Image Royal Thai Police
Pol Lt Col Darathorn claimed on Saturday that police detectives had yet to take his statement. He promised to undergo a medical checkup and bring the evidence to the cops.
He further maintained that a check of the woman’s criminal records revealed that she had previously faced a drunk driving allegation in August 2022.
On her Facebook page on Friday, the woman claimed that the information regarding the incident was biased. Some details were “untrue and distorted,” she noted.
She stated that she had not yet given her statement to police and would assign a lawyer to handle the case. The Facebook post was eventually removed. On Friday, Google Thailand published a statement stating that the woman in question had departed from the firm in January.
Ms Monsinee stated that she is currently trying to build venture capital funds to provide seed funding for Thai technology businesses.
