The driver checked in with the police on Tuesday around eleven in the evening. “The case is being investigated by criminal investigators on suspicion of negligent death and failure to provide assistance.” said police spokesman Jan Daněk on Wednesday morning, saying that the police had filed a motion to take him into custody. This was decided by the District Court for Prague 2 on Thursday.

“The accused was taken into custody for escaping, he is a foreigner,” Marcela Pröllerová, a spokeswoman for the District Court for Prague 2, told Blesk. This means that there are fears that “he will flee or hide in order to avoid prosecution or punishment, especially if his identity cannot be immediately identified as high, if he does not have a permanent residence or is threatened with punishment”. A 20-year-old driver faces up to six years in prison if convicted.

Death of a pedestrian

The horrific accident took place on Tuesday before half past six in the evening. The young pedestrian wanted to get to the other side of the street from the Štěpánská stop, he went over the tram tracks. There, however, he was hit by a ruthless driver, who also drove away from the accident site. Witnesses to the event stated that there was a traffic jam at the site during the evening rush hour. According to them, the man who drove the Toyota in the direction from Ječná up to IP Pavlova Square probably wanted to reduce the time spent on the road and he drove at high speed onto the tram tracks, where he had nothing to do. There he encountered a pedestrian and drove away. His car was traced the same evening, and a moment later, around eleven in the evening, a 20-year-old man reported to the police, saying he was driving the car. The young man was immediately detained by the police.

A car drove to the Ječná tram stop. He knocked down a pedestrian who suffered serious injuries. (November 2, 2021) Vaclav Burian