Laurence Dollimore
A GUARDIA Civil officer who caused a fatal pileup last week allegedly tried to flee the scene before blaming the crash on another officer.
Two Cadiz GRECO cops captured the officer after he run across the adjacent five lines of traffic and into a field.
After being arrested, he claimed the car was driven by another agent, but that he did not know where he had escaped to.
The crash killed three people and severely injured four others on the AP-7 in Torremolinos.
Sergeant Miguel Polilla walked away from the accident and the victims who laid still on the road until someone shouted “Stop, police!”
After him were two national police of the Special Response Group for Organized Crime (GRECO) of Cadiz who happened to have been circulating around the area.
Miguel jumped the central van of the highway and crossed the five opposing lanes of the MA-20, almost causing another crash as cars slammed the brakes to avoid hitting him as they travelled towards Malaga.
He ignored the police warnings and heavy traffic and continued into an adjacent field, but he was soon caught by the two fellow cops.
Back at the scene he reportedly said: “I’m a partner,” before he identified himself as a Guardia Civil sergeant and claimed that he was not driving the Hyundai that had caused the tragedy.
Visibly drunk, he then scolded the policemen, stating that he was in the passenger’s seat and that another officer of the armed institute was behind the wheel.
Inspection of the vehicle and the testimony of some witnesses showed that he was lying, but the agents were obliged to transfer the sergeant’s version to the first civil traffic guards who appeared at the site of the accident.
Policia Nacional are the best to go to. Very professional. Unfortunately in Marbella, it is impossible to go. No parking. And in summer lots of tourists wanting to claim something on their travel insurance.
Guardia Civil should be more than emabrrased with this incident. The Costa del Sol is a very safe place. That this car of special forces was actually at the scene, show how much effort is made to keep us all safe. In a very discrete way. Unfortunately, some of the Guardia still think they are the sons of Franco, and thus untouchables. The Nacionales and Locales are more of this age. Jobs like trafico etc. should not be done by the Guardia.
hear hear
What an absolute disgrace and to think they are supposedly serving the public. Hope he is given the strongest possible jail term. More than confirms my belief that Guardia Civil have no place in a modern Spain and should have been disbanded years ago.
hear hear
Joanna perhaps if your British and have just moved to he Costa del Sol you would not be aware of the leaps and bounds the Guardia Civil have put into practice over the last few years. Women admitted as Guardias, Gay Guardias and in general a more positive approach to leave behind the days of Franco. A bad apple appears in many places and when you find one you remove it.
but still all backward………is that one of the qualifications required…!!!!!
Why put Franco in the mix just because of one stupid coke-head happens to be a Guardia Civil,
Spain has come a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way, in a good way, since 1975
That is very debatable Christine..
Comparing 1975 with 2017, oh yes, that is a big difference. I can`t see anybody would disagree with that, at least not amongst my Spanish neighborhood for sure. I have elderly friends that has been living under a dictator-regime, and they could tell you about a lot of change for the better.
But it does not mean everything is perfect.
they have not come far enough….they still need to enter the 20th century…..i wonder what your view would be if it was one of yours that was killed by this drunken backward fool….well done to the modern day Police…these idiots can no longer hide behind Francos socialistic legacy….wake up Christine.
Franco “socialistic”? News Jack, the guy was a fascist, which, in case you don’t know, is the polar opposite.
but it neeeeeeeeeeeeeeedddeeeeeeed to and it still has loooooooooooooong way to go
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari66-2015-chislett-spain-40-years-after-franco-change-nation
Enjoy the day!
Christine, interesting link. But reading between the lines it would appear that Franco eventually gave democracy to Spain
La Opinión de Málaga
Guaria Civil is army. Ask yourself this: What is the army still doing in my pueblo? You put armies in villages after civil wars, or communist revolutions.
Army people command an follow commands. They are outside society, to protect borders etc. Locales and Nacionales are part of society and thus more reasonable. It is not that this one incident explains the whole group. But the principle is wrong. The fact that this guy ran off, lied, and then was protected “because he was above Nacionales” and only to be questioned by his own underlines this. It has nothing to do with what these army guys are now to allowed to do in their bedrooms at home.
Why Spain still needs the army to check cars for speeding, for instance, is a bit strange.
There seems to be a difference between those recently and trained by new standards and older ones, especially, those who have transferred horizontally from military. The younger, educated recruits are trying to restore the GC reputation sullied by their older and less educated colleagues. But as a young GC officer told us, it will take some time and reforms at the top.
“Franco eventually gave democracy to Spain”? He was in a coma when politicians made a deal with local governments: the turning issue was local control of land and zoning.
I think it was perhaps before your time chas that Franco also instigated tourism so a bit of socialism was in him also besides being a fascist. Btw, that was before being in a coma and politicians knuckled down under him and he was not in a coma when democracy was instigated.
Revisionist history would agree with you, suppose.
As per ‘before my time’? I knew Don Juan when I was living in Estoril as well as one of the survivors of the Atocha 1977 massacre with who I attended graduate school.
Franco allowed tourism simply to raise a few quid. People were starving and may have actually turned on their ruling tyrant. Even today, the country would be in dire straits without it’s visitors.
Hilarious idea to state he had “a bit of socialism in him”
chas, it would appear before your time. Had you purchased property while Franco was alive, or were you still at school.