A young man accused of crashing and killing a family on National Route 22 in the Río Negro province has been charged and remanded in custody. It was reported that he was under the influence of narcotics, using his cell phone, with a positive blood alcohol level, and driving at a minimum speed of over 170 km/h.
According to a statement from the provincial Public Prosecutor's Office, accessed by the Argentine News Agency, charges were filed against the man who, on November 21, caused the death of four people by crashing his pickup truck into another vehicle carrying two adults and two children.
The incident occurred at kilometer 1204 of National Route 22 in Allen, where the accused “was driving a pickup truck from west to east recklessly and in violation of regulations, without the care, prevention, and control required by the law,” as he was under the influence of narcotics, using his cell phone, was intoxicated, and driving at a minimum speed of over 170 km/h.
The Prosecutor's Office stated that “the pickup truck struck the rear of another vehicle that was stopped in the left lane in the same direction of travel, dragging it more than 37 meters and causing it to be completely incinerated at that moment.”
As a result of the impact, two adults—a 60-year-old woman and a 30-year-old woman—died at the scene, and according to a preliminary assessment, a girl and a boy traveling in the vehicle died from inhaling soot.
In this way, in recent hours, the young man was charged with the crime of quadruple culpable homicide, aggravated by driving a motor vehicle at excessive speed, under the influence of narcotics, with a blood alcohol level of more than 500 milligrams per liter, and due to the number of fatal victims.
All of this as the author.
Among the evidentiary elements for the charge, the Prosecutor's Office described that the investigation included the procedural report prepared by the Road Safety Corps, items seized from the pickup truck and during raids at his home, the blood alcohol test conducted three hours later which showed a high alcohol level, and the technical estimation of what the percentage would have been at the time of the accident.
Additionally, a witness statement was added, who claimed to have been overtaken by the accused's pickup truck at high speed while driving at 120 km/h and indicated that the accused's vehicle had been overtaking various vehicles.
The results of toxicology tests, the accidentology expert report that detailed the impact and the minimum probable speed exceeding 170 km/h, and photographs of the accident were also incorporated.
Finally, the Prosecutor's Office added that a social media profile was requested to be frozen, where the accused had allegedly posted images driving the pickup truck just minutes before the incident, from inside the vehicle; a report from the brigade accounting for his solvency, and security camera footage from a bar in Allen.
The complainant's lawyers adhered to the description of the event and the abundant evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office, while the defense opposed the filing of charges, arguing that the imprudence began with the person driving the crashed vehicle.
“This incident began with imprudence and ended in a fatal outcome, and the attributed qualification places the accused as the sole criminal responsible,” the Prosecutor's Office emphasized.
Finally, the judge who presided over the hearing upheld the charges and, granting the prosecutor's request, ordered his preventive custody for the duration of the investigation.