Driver Freed After Cacak Crash With 1.54 Per Mille Reading

A driver who ran a red light on the Cacak bypass overnight between Saturday and Sunday and hit a family car is now free. B. L. (34) of Zemun was held for 12 hours, then released to defend himself while at liberty, even though he tested at 1.54 per mille of alcohol in his blood. The father of the family has now described publicly, for the first time, what happened.

We reported earlier on the crash itself and the injured infant. What is new is what the father said, and the fact that the suspect is defending himself from freedom.

What happened on the bypass

According to a police statement, B. L. was driving a Mercedes on the Cacak bypass around midnight on Saturday. Traffic on that stretch runs in alternating directions on a single lane, controlled by a traffic light. He went through the red light and struck a Fiat coming from the opposite direction.

The force of the impact sent the Fiat carrying the family under the trailer of a truck, and it then spun around on the roadway. Inside were the parents, an older child and a one-month-old baby.

On the order of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Cacak, a criminal complaint was filed against the driver for endangering public traffic. He is accused, but guilt has not been established.

What the father of the family says

The father asked RINA news agency not to publish his name. He says they were coming from the direction of Konjevici and were first in line at the light:

“The line started moving, us first, and just as we were pulling out he flew through the red and straight into us.”

By his account, the cars behind them also started on the green light, so there were witnesses, and cameras recorded it too. After the impact, he says, chaos broke out, because in the first moments they did not know what had happened to the children.

The injuries he listed:

• the father has a broken arm and an injured leg
• the mother has a chest contusion and superficial wounds on her legs
• the older son has torn skin and swelling on his temple
• the baby has a skull fracture and a hematoma and was transferred for treatment in Belgrade

He described his own injuries this way: “My arm is broken, my leg is injured, and from the pain and the swelling I can’t put weight on it.” About the baby, he said: “Our baby is fighting for her life, we are only praying that she will be all right.” We did not receive an official diagnosis or assessment of the child’s condition from the hospital, so this relies on the father’s words.

Why was the driver released?

The father says he heard about it secondhand: “They say he admitted guilt and that is why he was let go to await trial at liberty.” That is not a statement from the police or the prosecutor’s office. According to the information available to us, neither the police nor the prosecutor’s office has publicly explained the reasons for the release.

The father does not hide his anger. Of the suspect he says: “He was drunk, and he wanted to kill us all.” That is his own assessment of the event, not an established fact. He also fears that, since this is the driver’s first criminal offense, he will get only a fine instead of prison.

The suspect’s release has caused outrage among residents of Cacak.

What comes next

The criminal complaint for endangering public traffic was filed on the prosecutor’s order, and the decision on whether an indictment will be brought, and what the sentence will be, is still to come. Until a final verdict, B. L. is presumed innocent. The father also commented on the alleged admission: “I don’t know what there was to admit when the matter is so clear.”