BEIJING—Chinese prosecutors filed only light charges against a man who police say killed a college student while driving drunk and who witnesses say then tried to use his father's position as a police official to avoid punishment, an incident that has come to symbolize rampant abuse of power among the families of officials.

Prosecutors on Wednesday formally accused 23-year-old Li Qiming of "crimes causing traffic casualties" for the October incident, a relatively minor offense that carries a maximum sentence of seven years....