Traffic offender offered two policemen money so that they could put up with charges: trial in Salzburg
“You know what – I’ll give you a hundred each, you forget the whole shift and have a nice day.” – In April of this year, a 25-year-old from Flachgau confronted two police officers with this “offer”, ie the public prosecutor’s office, who had caught him talking on the phone or fiddling with his cell phone while driving. In return, the two law enforcement officers should drop the charges against him for his administrative offense behind the wheel.
The two policemen could of course not respond to the driver’s request; they inadmissible criminal complaint to the public prosecutor against the 25-year-old because of attempted determination to abuse of office – on Tuesday the Flachgauer therefore had to sit in the dock in front of a jury at the Salzburg regional court.
The 25-year-old, who has not yet had a criminal record, confessed to the presiding judge Gabriele Glatz. His defense attorney Kurt Jelinek: “It was an extremely stupid and senseless action by him. He is very sorry.”
The incident in question took place in Elsbethen in the early evening of April 28th. The two police officers, who were on duty as civil motorcycle patrols at the time, had observed the defendant typing on his mobile phone while driving a small truck while overtaking. When he was arrested, the 25-year-old “appeared irritable”, so public prosecutor Katharina Dirisamer now in the process on Tuesday: “He calls on the officers to refrain from reporting a penalty in return for a bonus of 100 euros each.”
The defendant, who confessed remorsefully, finally got away with six months of conditional imprisonment – that is the minimum sentence for the crime of (attempted) abuse of office or the provision of it. He accepted the judgment because the public prosecutor also waived an appeal and is already final. The maximum possible penalty for the offense regulated in Section 302 of the Criminal Code is also five years in prison in this specific case.