Plzeň man jumps at car and survives, now faces court over damage

An unusual case has reached court in Plzeň: a man who intended to take his own life ran into the road and threw himself at a passing car, but survived. He is now charged with damaging another person’s property, with losses exceeding 30,000 crowns.

According to the prosecution, state prosecutor Pavel Tolar believes the man ran from a trolleybus stop on Lobezská Street “with suicidal intent” into the right side of a passing Seat Toledo. He smashed the windshield and left dents in the bodywork, including on the roof.

What the driver said

The Seat driver said he had no time to react: by his account, he was driving in a line of cars at about 50 kilometers per hour. “I noticed a man sitting at the stop. In a split second he stood up and jumped at the car. He rolled over the right side and broke the windshield. There was no avoiding it. All I managed to do was hit the brakes,” the driver recalled.

A similar case has happened before

The man later told witnesses that he had no family and wanted to die. He had a partly drunk bottle of alcohol with him. According to police, he owns no property, has seven enforcement proceedings against him and is registered with the labor office. He had previously been punished several times for theft, and in April this year he received a three-year suspended sentence in Germany.

A similar case occurred in Plzeň two years ago: a 42-year-old man deliberately ran in front of a city bus, which struck him with its front. He also survived, and the court ultimately suspended the criminal prosecution over the damage to the bus on probation.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz