Sokobanja hit-and-run: driver arrested after five days
Zajecar police have arrested S. C., born 1981, from Belgrade, suspected of hitting a 66-year-old pedestrian with his car near Sokobanja on July 23 and then leaving the scene.
- Police arrested S. C., born 1981, from Belgrade, suspected of hitting a pedestrian with a car near Sokobanja on July 23.
- The injured woman is 66 years old and was treated at the Clinical Centre in Nis, where doctors recorded serious bodily injuries.
- The driver left the scene after the impact, and police traced him five days later.
- On the orders of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Aleksinac, he is being held for up to 48 hours.
The Zajecar Police Department has arrested S. C., born 1981, from Belgrade, the Interior Ministry announced. He is suspected of serious offences against public traffic safety and of failing to assist a person injured in a traffic accident. The arrest was made on the orders of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Aleksinac, five days after the incident in question.
The suspicion is that on July 23 this year, driving a Renault near Sokobanja, he struck a woman who was walking along the roadway. The woman is 66 years old. According to the police statement, the driver crossed into the lane meant for oncoming traffic before the impact.
The injured pedestrian was treated at the Clinical Centre in Nis, where doctors recorded serious bodily injuries. No official update on her further treatment has been released.
What the police statement says
The central part of the suspicion concerns what happened after the impact. According to police, the driver did not stop and did not help the injured woman, but continued driving and moved off in an unknown direction. That is why, alongside the underlying traffic safety offence, he also faces a charge of failing to render assistance.
Identifying him took five days. Officers in Sokobanja, supported by the Zajecar Police Department, located the suspect and detained him. Jurisdiction lies with the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Aleksinac, since the location of the accident falls within that area.
The suspect has been ordered held for up to 48 hours. Within that period he will be questioned and brought before the prosecutor together with a criminal complaint. After questioning, the prosecution decides whether to ask the court for detention or a lighter measure to secure his presence in the proceedings.
One point is worth repeating, because it is the one most easily skipped over. This is a suspect. Guilt has not been established, and no indictment has been filed. Everything set out here comes from the police statement and remains the subject of further prosecutorial work.
Why is leaving the scene treated as a separate offence?
The answer lies in the nature of the duty a driver owes to an injured person. Serbian criminal law treats failure to assist someone injured in a traffic accident separately from causing the accident itself. One offence concerns the manner of driving and its consequence, the other concerns the omission to help when help matters most.
That makes it possible for a single event to produce two distinct charges, as in this case. The practical effect is a more serious position for the suspect, because it is not only the moment of impact that is assessed but also the conduct immediately afterwards.
For investigators, fleeing also means lost time. The vehicle moves away, marks on the road surface wear down, and breath testing or toxicology on the driver in the first hours is no longer possible. In such cases expert analysis therefore leans on traces at the scene, damage to the vehicle and witness accounts.
Near Sokobanja, according to the statement, the decisive element was the move into the oncoming lane. That is what expert examiners will test, because the legal classification of the act depends on it.
Do penalties for leaving the scene of an accident in Serbia match the harm that such flight causes?
