After a police officer, sitting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol, swept away a car on the Stara Zagora - Chirpan road and injured an 8-year-old child and his father - the injured driver spoke to NOVA. The incident was from February 6, but it was learned about days later. The police officer holds an executive position in the Stara Zagora police department. He took the right of way from the other car in which the father and his 8-year-old son were traveling, and the breathalyzer showed that the uniformed man was driving his car with 2.22 per mille of alcohol in his blood.
The child and father were injured in the impact, but their lives are out of danger. The police officer was detained for 24 hours in the Chirpan Police Station. Pre-trial proceedings have been initiated in the case. By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the officer was temporarily suspended from duty and disciplinary proceedings are underway against him.
The incident occurred at an intersection on the old Stara Zagora - Chirpan road at the exit for Vinarovo and Malko Trânkovo. This is a well-marked and wide road junction. At this point, the police officer took the right of way and hit Petar Savov's car, in which his 8-year-old son was also traveling.
"On February 6, my son and I set off to return home from Stara Zagora. Luckily, there were only the two of us. My wife stayed home for the first time and did not travel with us. I also have another daughter, who until recently wondered whether to come". This is what he told in “Hello, Bulgaria” the victim Petar Savov.
According to him, at the intersection his car was literally swept away. "The only thing I could see were the headlights, and the next moment I simply don't remember anything. The impact was brutal. I have no idea how fast he was driving, but I had absolutely no time to react", he said.
The incident became known a few days later, when Petar's relatives tried to thank the Emergency Services team. Then it also became clear that the driver who took away the right of way was a police officer. When asked if he had the impression that the uniformed officer had buckled up as an official in the first moments of the accident - the victim said: "I did not become a direct witness to this. But later a person who was present at the accident contacted us and asked us to keep his identity secret. He said that the policeman introduced himself as a colleague from the department in order to mitigate or cover up the case. I want to thank the policeman who was first on the scene - Stanislav Tenev, for not allowing this to happen. He even shouted at him and said: "How can you want this from me? There is an injured child," said Petar.
The man said that he met with the driver who hit his car. "It was difficult to find out who he was. He tried to hide information. He works in a forensic laboratory. He is an expert witness at the court in Stara Zagora in the field of forensics. I met with him. He seemed devastated, worried and very sorry. I believed him. But later I realized that he had misled me about many things. First - that he had been disciplinary fired. Then - that he was an ordinary traffic policeman. And that he did not in any way try to influence through his official position - and this is not the case," Savov explained.
It was the misleading information from the uniformed officer that prompted Petar to publicize the case.
After inquiries from journalists days after the accident, it was confirmed that the man in question was a 43-year-old man - a police officer at the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Stara Zagora. Later it became clear that he was temporarily removed from office by order, and disciplinary proceedings have currently been initiated. The prosecutor's office is working on the case.