CHELYABINSK, March 10 The court arrested for two months a 19-year-old driver who drove into oncoming traffic on a highway in the Chelyabinsk region and collided with a VAZ, resulting in the death of four people, the press center of the regional prosecutor’s office reported on Sunday in a telegram channel.
As the traffic police reported, the accident occurred on March 4, 15.30 (13.30 Moscow time) on the 14th kilometer of the Katav-Ivanovsk — Orlovka — Ust-Katav highway. A driver born in 2004 driving a Hyundai Santa Fe, according to preliminary data, drove into oncoming traffic while overtaking, where he collided with a VAZ-21102 driven by a driver born in 1988. The driver of the VAZ-21102 and passengers — a woman born in 1985, a girl born in 2016 and a boy born in 2024 (two months old) — died in the accident. Three more were hospitalized.
“Today the Ust-Katav City Court considered the investigator’s petition… to select a preventive measure in the form of detention in relation to a 19-year-old driver… The court rejected the defense’s request to select a preventive measure in the form of house arrest and chose a preventive measure in the form of detention under guard until May 6, 2024,” the message says.
In court, the prosecutor supported the request of the investigator, who believed that the accused could put pressure on the witness and other participants in criminal proceedings, hide from the investigative authorities or interfere with the proceedings, the prosecutor’s office explains.
The driver is accused under Part 5 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic rules and operation of vehicles, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence), the message adds.