The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) ratifies the sentence of eight years and eight months in prison for a man who ran over several civil guards with a stolen car. This sentence was initially imposed by the Malaga Court.
The events occurred in December 2020 in the Malaga town of Vélez-Málaga. The accused was driving a van, without a driving license, which he had just stolen. As proven by the Malaga Court, the man was driving “at a speed noticeably higher than that permitted by regulation.” However, the defendant “did not stop his march” when a civil guard stopped him “and tried to run over the agent, who fell to the ground and was injured.”
Subsequently, the convicted man invaded the opposite direction of the road with the van. This caused the rest of the users to have to take evasive maneuvers to avoid the head-on collision. Accordingly, a follow-up maneuver was initiated for approximately 48 kilometers of distance. During the course of this, the defendant drove “recklessly, endangering the lives of other road users.”
At one point, the defendant tried to “attack a patrol of the Civil Traffic Guard of Motril (Granada).” Next, he crashed the vehicle “directly” into a car from the Rapid Intervention Group of the Vélez Civil Guard.
According to the sentence, he first “intentionally hit the left rear part of the vehicle” and then “hit it a second time.” This last crash “caused the vehicle to be thrown at high speed into the oncoming lanes.” Consequently, it crossed “the median of the highway and” collided “with the rear side of a concrete mixer truck.”
As a result, several Civil Guard agents suffered serious injuries. The accused, by abandoning the vehicle, caused the police pursuit to continue on foot. Finally, the fugitive was intercepted by two officers. However, the man resisted the arrest and ended up injuring both officers.
In total, several vehicles were damaged and five officers were injured. One of them suffered particularly serious injuries, such as a skull fracture. He needed 565 days to recover, 21 of which he was admitted to the ICU. Likewise, it has important consequences. For his part, the accused has already deposited an amount of money in favor of this victim.
At the time, the detainee was convicted of the crimes of theft of use of a motor vehicle, driving without a permit and reckless driving. In addition, two crimes of attack were added, in competition with others of injuries and resistance. The latter, occurring as a circumstance that aggravates the penalty of recidivism, since the man already had numerous criminal records.
Regarding civil liability, the Malaga Court agreed that the main injured party be compensated with 116,225.33 euros, an amount of which 65,517 euros have already been allocated. The rest of the injured will also be compensated, as will the State for the damaged vehicles.
The TSJA has admitted the appeal presented by the main party affected, considering that future healthcare expenses must also be compensated. Among them, an infiltration of the left vocal cord once a year and weekly facial physiotherapy. These amounts will be defined in the execution of the sentence.
Now, the judicial organization also considers the appeal presented by an insurer. In this, it is determined that each of the amounts awarded as civil liability in favor of this agent “will be reduced by 25%.” This is because it is considered that “the injuries suffered by the driver of the police vehicle were significantly aggravated” by not wearing the seat belt correctly.
