Irishman arrested in Spain over fatal Costa Blanca road crash

Gerard Couzens

Spanish police hunting an Irishman who abandoned the scene of a fatal Costa Blanca crash have confirmed they have made an arrest.

They held the 29-year-old after tracking him down through the hire car he abandoned and alerting colleagues at ports and airports to make sure he did not leave the country.

The victim of the collision has been described locally as a 45-year-old Peruvian man.

The crash happened around 4am last Saturday on the N-322 main road in the town of Torrevieja near Alicante, near to a park called Parque de las Naciones which features a lake and an animal cage with iguanas and tortoises.

Police only confirmed the arrest, thought to have occurred on Monday, on Friday as they revealed he had been released on bail pending further inquiries.

The unnamed man was held on suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of a collision and has been warned he could face more than four years in prison and a lengthy driving ban if convicted.

Detectives also released footage of him being taken into custody as well as photos taken at the crash scene.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: “The Civil Guard has arrested a person over the road traffic accident which occurred in the early hours of last Saturday morning in Torrevieja when a frontal collision occurred between two cars and resulted in a person dying.

“The suspect has appeared before a judge in Torrevieja and been released on conditional bail pending an ongoing investigation.”

The force confirmed in a statement: “After the impact the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident abandoned the scene on foot.”

It added: “In the first phase of the investigation officers carried out an exhaustive inspection of the scene before carrying out other inquiries relating to the hire car that had been abandoned at the scene.

“Officers discovered the rental contract had been signed by an Irish couple and once they had been identified precautions were taken to avoid them leaving Spain without being detected.

“The 29-year-old Irish man police were hunting was eventually tracked down and arrested on suspicion of the crimes of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident.

“He went to court on September 4th.

“Manslaughter carries a prison sentence of between one and four years and the other crime three to six months
prison as well as a driving ban of between six months and two years.”

It was not immediately clear on Friday morning if the suspect will be allowed to leave Spain as part of his bail conditions or must surrender his passport and remain in the country.