Sunday, October 24, 2010

Bad luck all around

You know things are really bad when the cops are driving while intoxicated while on patrol.

The girl who died died as a result of the ambulance which was coming to render aid, ran her over.


Drunk-driving cop in Tomsk region arrested
by Evgeniya Chaykovskaya - The Moscow News

A drunk cop who ploughed into a group of teenage girls has been arrested – and could face up to five years for his role in the death of Dasha Nesterova, 15.

Nesterova was hit by the policeman’s vehicle and later died from injuries she suffered when an ambulance sent to help her inadvertently drove over her in the twilight.

The ambulance driver will not face disciplinary action after investigators concluded he was fit to drive and simply could not see the girl as she lay in the road in the village of Kargasok, Tomsk Region.

Drunk cop
Blood samples from the police officer found an alcohol rate of 1.43 per mille, equivalent to “average intoxification”. In Russia it is illegal to drive with any detectable level of alcohol in the blood.

The ensign was arrested on Thursday and is on his way to a pre-trial detention centre in Tomsk, Interfax reported.

Superiors fired
The police are not confirming the name of the driver, but some reports suggest that it may be Alexander Skirnevsky, 29, the chief convoy of a security group.

The local police chief fired the policeman that caused the accident along with two of his superiors.

The ensign had only positive references and has often been rewarded by his superiors, Tomsk region police press secretary Natalia Ustimenko told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. He has been working in law-enforcement since 2002.

Speedy ambulance driver
Although Nesterova’s fatal injuries came when she was hit by the ambulance, no further action is to be taken against the ambulance driver.

The driver said that headlight glare blinded him as he approached the scene of the accident, and the police did not find any alcohol in his blood, the head of the investigative department of the prosecutor’s office in Tomsk region Pavel Sbyshko told RIA Novosti.

“The driver of the ambulance was not drunk. But he has been described as a master of daring driving on the ambulance. His colleagues and relatives always said that he was driving very fast,” Sbyshko said.

Kargasok’s hospital representatives said that the driver of the ambulance did not have any reprimands and also received only positive references.

No actions were taken against the man.

The ensign could face up to five years in prison for breaking traffic rules that resulted in the death of a person by accident.