The Guardia Civil has taken into custody a 22-year-old driver who is accused of hitting two bikers, aged 74 and 76, while high on narcotics. The bikers were on the N-340 highway close to the town of Orihuela in the province of Alicante. The driver is said to have been driving dangerously and running away from two police officers who had told him to stop. The man who was arrested didn’t have a driver’s licence.
The event happened on February 26th, about 10:15 a.m., around kilometre 688 on the road listed above. The Orihuela Traffic Detachment had just told the car to halt, but he didn’t listen, according to a statement from the Guardia Civil. At that point, the Guardia Civil started to follow the car, which was “clearly driving recklessly” and trying to avoid the officers’ commands. The driver is said to have run over two bicycles while trying to get away. After that, he stopped the car, left it, and rushed away on foot. The two officers quickly got off their motorcycles and were able to catch and detain the suspect, a 22-year-old male from Spain. They also gave them breathalyser tests, which measure blood alcohol content, and drug tests, which showed that he had THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active compound in cannabis, in their system.
Serious Injuries
The Guardia Civil says that the two Spanish men, aged 74 and 76, who were ran over were part of a group of eight bicycles. The disaster happened when the driver of the car did not obey a vertical sign that said to cede the right of way. Paramedics took both bikers to the Vega Baja Hospital in Orihuela, where they were admitted with critical injuries. The 74-year-old man is still in the hospital, but his life is not in danger. The other man has been released and is healing at home. The Guardia Civil of Orihuela’s Traffic Accident Investigation Team has prepared the paperwork and sent it to the appropriate court in Orihuela for the alleged crimes of disobeying police officers, driving without a licence and two counts of serious injury.
