The heir to the Red Bull energy drink empire was arrested in Thailand after he hit a police officer with a car and drove away.
Vorayuth Yoovidhya, 27, who is called “Boss,” was arrested at his father’s gated property three blocks away, the Bangkok Post reported.
He was arrested after police followed a trail of oil that oozed out of his black-grey Ferrari, which was damaged in the accident.
“We traced a gasoline trail, which leaked onto the road until it led us to the house with the Ferrari,” said police officer Viradol Thubthimdee, according to the newspaper.
Yoovidhya is the grandson of Chaleo Yoovidhya, who founded the Red Bull energy drink company in 1987. Chaleo died earlier this year and had an estimated $5.7 billion fortune.
Yoovidhya crashed into a motorcycle police officer at around 5:30 a.m. local time, police said. The officer was killed after suffering a broken neck and multiple broken bones. He now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for being involved in a fatal hit and run, Viradol added.
A police deputy, Chotewat Luangwilai, also faces allegations that he falsely arrested the wrong person earlier in the day and was “transferred to an inactive post,” the Post said.
But Comronwit Toopgrajank, the most powerful police officer in Bangkok, said, “A policeman is dead. I can’t let this stand. If I let this case get away, I'd rather quit. I don’t care how powerful they are. If I can’t get the actual man in this case, I will resign,” reported Sky News.
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