On Saturday in the town of Magnuszew near Kozienice, a drunk 42-year-old without a driving license drove into two groups of pedestrians. Two people died at the scene, and a third died in hospital. The police also detained a 26-year-old passenger who fled the scene of the accident. Both men were charged on Monday evening.
Two groups of pedestrians, five people in total, were hit on Saturday evening in the town of Magnuszew. on provincial road 736 (Masovian Voivodeship). According to the police, a woman and a man, both 36 years old, died at the scene, while a 55-year-old woman died in hospital.
Two other pedestrians were also injured in the collision: a 55-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man. They were hospitalized, while the man has since been released.
– An investigation has been initiated into the case of a fatal road accident caused by a drunk driver – said Magdalena Jakubowska, deputy district prosecutor in Kozienice, on Monday.
As she pointed out, in addition to the 42-year-old driver of the Ford, the 26-year-old passenger of the car, who fled the scene after the accident, was also detained. – This man was detained the day after the incident. At the time of detention, he was under the influence of alcohol, as was the driver detained earlier – explained prosecutor Jakubowska.
The deputy district prosecutor in Kozienice added that autopsies on the three fatal accident victims would be performed on Monday.
The driver admitted to the acts he was accused of
In the evening, Jakubowska reported that the driver was brought to the prosecutor's office and charged with “causing an accident with a fatal outcome while under the influence of alcohol”. – He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, having previously been convicted of driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated – she noted.
As indicated by Magdalena Jakubowska, the driver admitted to committing both of the acts he was charged with. – He provided explanations that were generally consistent with the facts of the case to date. The passenger of the Ford was also detained. – The man was charged with failing to provide assistance, due to the fact that he left the scene of the incident immediately after it occurred, as well as with inciting the driver to commit a crime consisting in fleeing the scene of the incident after causing a fatal accident, and also to report the theft of the vehicle, even though no such crime had been committed – the prosecutor noted.
The prosecutor informed that a motion for the application of temporary arrest for a period of three months was filed against the driver of the vehicle to the District Court in Kozienice. In turn, a preventive measure in the form of police supervision and a ban on leaving the country was applied against the passenger.
The passenger will be held responsible for failure to provide assistance and incitement
The prosecutor said that a driver who causes a fatal accident while intoxicated faces a sentence of five to 20 years in prison. A passenger who fails to provide assistance faces up to three years in prison. The same sentence applies to inciting someone to flee after causing a fatal accident. – As for the passenger, he explains his behavior by saying he was shocked and panicked. The man who was driving, on the other hand, claims that he felt sober, that it was an exceptional situation, that he didn't drive often, even though he didn't have a license – the prosecutor replied when asked about the suspects' explanations.
Jakubowska also confirmed that the driver lost his driving license in 2011 and has not regained it. The driver and passenger are from Kozienice County. The injured parties are seasonal workers of local farmers and fruit growers.
What next? As the prosecutor explained, investigators will now verify the explanations given by the suspects. Then they will compare them with the version of the injured parties – two people who survived the accident. The opinion of an expert in the field of road traffic and accident reconstruction will also be helpful. Biological material collected from both the injured parties and the suspect driving the car will also be examined to see if he was under the influence of other intoxicants. The prosecutor also admitted that the versions of the suspects and the injured parties differ in details. – There are some discrepancies in the details, which may result from the stress on the side of the injured parties. We will check this – she assured at the end.
The 42-year-old was driving without a driving license.
After the accident, the police reported that the 42-year-old driver of the Ford, who was then detained, was under the influence of alcohol. On Monday, the Provincial Police Headquarters in Radom reported that he had over 1.2 per mille of alcohol in his system. “As it turned out, the 42-year-old driver was driving without a license,” the Mazovian police emphasized at the same time.
The announcement explained that the 42-year-old's driving license was suspended in 2010 for drunk driving. It was also noted that “in September 2020, he was stopped for another police check when he was driving a vehicle without using a seat belt.”
– Then the Kozienice police filed a motion to punish him in court for driving without a license, for which he was banned from driving for a year – the Mazovian police noted.
The injured are seasonal workers
As reported, referring to the circumstances of Saturday's accident, the pedestrians were hit outside a built-up area when the driver of a Ford, for reasons currently unknown, drove into two groups of pedestrians walking on the road – first three people were hit, two 55-year-old women and a 37-year-old, and then a pair of 36-year-olds.
As cadet Marcin Sawicki told a TVN24 reporter, the people injured in the accident were seasonal workers who worked near the accident site.
Main image source: Dariusz Borowicz / Wyborcza.pl Agency