Former national police chief in Thailand charged in alleged cover-up of Red Bull heir's deadly crash

BANGKOK (AP) — Prosecutors in Thailand on Thursday indicted a former national police chief in connection with an alleged cover-up of a 2012 Ferrari crash involving an heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune that killed a police officer.

Former Police Chief Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung, former Deputy Attorney General Nate Naksuk and six other people were arraigned at a Bangkok court on charges alleging they conspired to alter the recorded speed of the Ferrari driven by Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya to help him evade a speeding charge.

Vorayuth escaped justice by fleeing abroad in a case widely held up as an example of how the rich and well-connected enjoy impunity in Thailand.

Police have said Vorayuth smashed his Ferrari into the back of a police officer’s motorbike around dawn on a major Bangkok road in September 2012. The officer was flung from the bike and died at the scene. Vorayuth drove home and was later arrested. Medical tests showed traces of alcohol and cocaine in his bloodstream, according to police.