In a horrific crash between a young driver and a cyclist, the driver fled the scene after striking
the cyclist, but not before jettisoning his arm–which had been amputated in the crash– into a nearby stream.
The article, which can be translated from Portuguese using Google Translate, was published in Sao Paulo on the website G1 Globo.com on March 10.
Driver Alex Siwek who ran over cyclist David Santos de Souza on Paulista Ave. in Sao Paulo early Sunday morning will be jailed, according to the deputy Luiz Francisco Segantin Junior.
He will be charged with attempted murder, leaving the scene of the crash after drunk driving and having “innovated in the scenario when trying to dispose of the victim’s arm,” according to police.
The cyclist was removed to a local hospital where he is being treated. It is not clear if he has been reunited with his arm which was severed as the cyclist flew through the windshield, leaving the arm inside the car.
The driver then fled, returned his driving companion to his home, took the arm to a stream on Avenida Ricardo Jafet where he disposed of it, returned home and parked his car in the garage, then went on foot to the local police station to turn himself in.
The driver’s lawyer said Siwek drank four beers that night before he struck the cyclist at 5:30 AM.
“Never crossed his mind run over or cause any injury to a person,” said the driver’s lawyer, Pablo Naves Testoni.”Such circumstances will be elucidated by justice and he reserved the right to manifest only in the judiciary,” he added.
But witnesses who were driving alongside Siwek, and stopped to help de Souza after the crash said the driver had been weaving in and out of the lanes. Another witness who left the scene is said to be wanted for questioning by police.
Earlier, another lawyer for the driver, Cassio Paoletti said the driver did not provide aid to the victim because he feared the reaction of people who were close to the crash site.
