The Carabinieri of the San Lorenzo Company have executed a precautionary custody order in prison, issued by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of the Court of Palermo, against a 26-year-old, for the crimes of negligent environmental disaster And negligent forest fire.
The activity, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, was conducted by the Operational Unit of the SanLorenzo Company and made it possible to acquire a serious circumstantial framework against the suspect who, on 24 July 2023, was said to have become the protagonist of the conduct that led to the spread of a fire that destroyed approximately 650 hectares (6.5 square kilometers) of vegetation, of which almost 600 falling within “Capo Gallo” Oriented Nature Reserve. It was one of the most violent and destructive fires among those that gripped the capital in those days, causing anomalous concentrations of dioxins and furans in the area.
The investigation began thanks to the meticulous information activity of the Partanna Mondello station which allowed, among other things, the analysis of video footage from a camera by the Carabinieri of the Palermo Investigative Unit and therefore the reconstruction of the dynamics of the events.
The subsequent telephone and environmental interceptions, supported by the taking of witness statements and by traditional investigation methods carried out also thanks to the contribution of the Station’s soldiers, the Scientific Investigations Section and the Forestry colleagues of the Natura Anti-Crime Centre, revealed serious indications of guilt on the 26-year-old, already convicted, with a final sentence following a plea agreement in 2017, for damage following a fire, private violence and crimes relating to weapons and explosives, having thrown, in competition with others, bottles “molotov” against an illegally occupied building.
Furthermore, the technical investigations carried out by the Natura Anticrime Center and the Task Force of the Forest Fire Information Unit of the Forestry and Parks Protection Commandwhich the Carabinieri sent from Rome for the specific need, thanks to which the “fire starting area” and highlighted that the flames had destroyed the vegetation present, consisting mainly of Mediterranean bushresulting in an irreversible alteration of the ecosystem – or in any case partially eliminateable, but only in a long time cycle and under onerous conditions – and caused damage to buildings, constructions and protected plant species.
The 26-year-old had already been in prison since October last year under a precautionary measure because he was under investigation for having carried out mistreatment, which emerged during the course of this investigation, against his partner and the latter’s 3-year-old son.
