D6 attack suspect in Czechia was convicted over a pedestrian death

The man suspected of attacking a woman and her eight-year-old daughter on the D6 motorway near Jesenice in the Rakovník district in October was convicted in 2008 of fatally hitting a pedestrian in Sokolov. According to prosecutors, he is also linked to an incident on the same motorway in 2022.

Fatal collision in Sokolov

The tragedy happened on 29 June 2008 at around 8:30 p.m. on K. H. Borovského street in Sokolov. A 25-year-old driver of a Volkswagen Multivan was heading from the Kaufland shopping centre towards the town centre at a speed of at least 64 kilometres per hour. Because of the low sun, he did not see a 60-year-old woman crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing.

The car struck her with its front left side, throwing her beyond the carriageway. She suffered severe internal injuries and died at the scene.

The Sokolov District Court found the driver guilty on 14 May 2009. The verdict took effect the same day and was never overturned, according to a record in the InfoSoud court database. What sentence the driver received is still unknown, whether a suspended sentence or a driving ban. Novinky has asked the court for a copy of the verdict but has not yet received a reply.

Prosecutors confirm his identity

The possible link between the old accident and the current attack was first noticed by CNN Prima NEWS reporter Michal Janoška. The state prosecutor's office then confirmed that the man convicted over the 2008 collision and the suspect in the 2022 incident are one and the same person.

“The person convicted of that offence and the suspect in the 2022 offence are the same person,” said Petr Havlíček, a prosecutor at the Sokolov District Prosecutor's Office.

According to information the prosecutors received from police by phone, this is indeed the man connected with this year's attack on the D6. Havlíček added, however, that the requested materials have not yet arrived from the prosecutor's office in Rakovník, which is handling the current case.

The 2022 incident with children in the car

In October 2022, the driver of a Volkswagen Transporter on the D6 between Karlovy Vary and Sokolov, according to police, repeatedly forced another car out of its lane and then insulted its passengers. There were five people in the car, including two minors. This was confirmed by Karlovy Vary Region police spokesman Jakub Koprživa.

The case was initially treated as an administrative offence and closed. But on 27 October this year, Sokolov investigators opened criminal proceedings on suspicion of extortion. Prosecutor Havlíček has previously said he is also considering a charge of dangerous threatening. According to Koprživa, police have already received the original case file, which they requested from Sokolov city hall.

Attack on a woman in front of her daughter

The most recent incident took place on 11 October on the D6 near Jesenice. According to investigators, a 43-year-old man braked sharply in front of a woman who was driving through a speed-limited section and then attacked her. Her eight-year-old daughter was in the car and saw everything that happened.

Police initially handled the case under abbreviated pre-trial proceedings on suspicion of attempted bodily harm, hooliganism and attempted theft. However, the prosecutor's office in Rakovník sent the file back to police for further review, so the case is not yet closed.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz