Police this afternoon arrested a man who crossed Russian Federation Blvd. who they said was acting erratically by pointing at cars and not listening to authorities.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesman San Sokseyha said the arrest happened around 1:20 p.m. along one of the main roads in Phnom Penh being used to shuttle Asean Summit VIPs to and from the Sokha Hotel in Chroy Changva.
He said that the Korean man was still being held for questioning as of about 5 p.m.
Sokseyha said the man had walked across the road about 15-20 minutes before a South Korean motorcade was due to pass, and was not listening to authorities’ instructions to get out of the road.
“It was not that the man ran into the VIPs. The incident happened before that,” he said. “The authorities on the Russian Blvd. saw the Korean person walking across and pointing in general at people and cars while they were traveling.”
Police were unclear about the man’s behavior, including whether he was going to stop in the middle of the street, Sokseyha said. When police began to question him, the man then pointed at officers’ faces, he said.
“He was not following the authorities,” Sokseyha said. “Authorities detained him for questioning.”
City Hall has named Russian Federation Blvd., Monivong Blvd., Norodom Blvd. and National Road 6 for potential traffic diversions as world leaders arrive to the city for the Asean Summit.
Police have been stationed on corners along those roads over the past couple of days, but traffic has generally been free-flowing except when temporarily closed off to let motorcades pass.