Arrest made by Spanish police hunting Irishman who fled the scene of a fatal crash
The unnamed man was held on suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident and has been warned he could face more than four years in prison and a lengthy driving ban if convicted. Picture: AP /Manu Mielniezuk
Spanish police hunting an Irishman who abandoned the scene of a fatal Costa Blanca accident have confirmed they have made an arrest.
They held the 29-year-old after tracking him down through the hire car he abandoned and alerting colleagues at ports and airports to make sure he did not leave the country.
The victim of the accident has been described locally as a 45-year-old Peruvian man.
The accident happened at about 4am last Saturday on the N-322 main road in the town of Torrevieja, near Alicante.
Police only confirmed the arrest, thought to have occurred on Monday, on Friday, as they revealed he had been released on bail pending further inquiries.
The unnamed man was held on suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident and has been warned he could face more than four years in prison and a lengthy driving ban if convicted.
Police also released footage of him being taken into custody as well as photos taken at the crash scene.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: “The Civil Guard has arrested a person over the road traffic accident which occurred in the early hours of last Saturday morning in Torrevieja, when a frontal collision occurred between two cars and resulted in a person dying.
“The suspect has appeared before a judge in Torrevieja and been released on conditional bail pending an ongoing investigation.”
It added: “In the first phase of the investigation, officers carried out an exhaustive inspection of the scene before carrying out other inquiries relating to the hire car that had been abandoned at the scene.
“Officers discovered the rental contract had been signed by an Irish couple and once they had been identified, precautions were taken to avoid them leaving Spain without being detected.
“The 29-year-old Irish man police were hunting was eventually tracked down and arrested on suspicion of the crimes of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident.
“He went to court on September 4.
“Manslaughter carries a prison sentence of between one and four years and the other crime three to six months prison as well as a driving ban of between six months and two years.”
It is not clear if the suspect will be allowed to leave Spain as part of his bail conditions or must surrender his passport and remain in the country.
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