Red Bull heir pays off family of police officer he killed with his million-dollar Ferrari

GlobalPost

Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya has paid off the family of a police officer who he struck and killed with his million-dollar Ferrari in Bangkok earlier this month, settling for $97,000 out of court. 

The National Post reports that 27-year-old Yoovidhya paid the so-called "funeral fee" and will likely avoid a civil suit. 

Read more from GlobalPost: Vorayuth Yoovidhya, Red Bull heir, arrested for Thai hit-and-run

However, Yoovidhya (much to the relief of all Bangkok pedestrians) isn't out of the woods yet. He's still on the hook for criminal charges related to reckless driving and attempting to evade arrest by fleeing the scene of the crime. 

Yoovidhya struck and killed 47-year-old Sgt. Maj. Wichean Glanprasert on September 2nd according to the BBC, and was arrested after police followed a trail of gasoline to his family's estate.

Bangkok's police chief took the reins of the investigation after suspicion a lower-level officer was attempting to orchestrate a cover-up, the BBC added. 

The grandson of original Red Bull founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, who died in March, Vorayuth Yoovidhya is the heir to a billion-dollar fortune and a member of Thailand's fourth-richest family, according to the Guardian. 

Read more from GlobalPost: Thailand: police bribe caught on video 

The Guardian added in their September 4th article that many Thais were watching the case carefully to see if golden-boy Yoovidhya would actually be brought to justice for his crime—and after the "funeral fee" payoff, it still remains to be seen if he'll actually do any time. 

A wealthy teenage driver who killed a staggering nine people in a freeway crash was merely given a suspended two-year prison sentence and prohibited from driving until she was 25, reports the Bangkok Post, in a case that sparked considerable popular outrage. (The photo of her texting calmly at the scene of the deadly crash does really say it all). 

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