two policemen end up on trial

PADUA – Ideological falsehood in a public act: with this accusation the trial of two agents of the Padua traffic police who they would have fined a motorist without any reason. It all dates back to the morning of 25 June 2018: the Polstrada crew had been called to intervene for an accident at the Padova Ovest toll booth where, in access lane 3 reserved for users with Telepass, there had been a collision between a van and a car. The van, in fact, did not see the barrier open and went back, colliding with the front part of the Fiat Stilo which had followed it in the Telepass lane. The one who asked for the police to arrive was the motorist who had been rear-ended by the van in reverse but who, at the end of the day, had found himself not only damaged but also insulted: according to the reconstruction of the two officers – now assisted by the lawyer Pierilario Troccolo – the motorist would not have kept a safe distance when proceeding after the van: hence the fine.

Fine without reason, investigations

When the fine was contested, the motorist had explained the behavior of the driver of the van, saying that reversing is prohibited on the motorway and, in support of his thesis and version, he had asked the Polstrada crew to check the cameras installed on the Padua West toll booth. However, the two officers, as stated in the indictment, “immediately denied its existence and proceeded to draw up a public accident report certifying untrue facts and omitting declarations received”. It was the motorist’s defence, who had appealed against the fine, that revealed the footage: viewing the images taken on the morning of 15 June 2018 at the Padova Ovest toll booth confirmed the man’s version, which was taken away the fine in self-defense. Not enough to prevent the prosecution from filing a complaint, the first act of the process that began yesterday. In their defense the officers had said several times that they had behaved correctly by asking, that day and to various people, if there were any useful footage to clarify the dynamics of the events. Since it did not emerge, they then proceeded with the fine which was later cancelled.

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