Flores tragedy: 'My son was in a traffic accident, he did not rob or kill anyone'

12/26/2020 4:07 PM

• Clarín.com

• Cities

Updated 12/26/2020 4:09 PM

"I did not speak before out of respect for the pain of those affected by the accident and also towards justice," said Rubén Ariel Papadopulos when he began his

first public statements

since his son Ricardo ran into Débora Inés Agosti and his son

Isaac Sus

with the car.

4 years old

, who

died as a result of the accident

that occurred in the Directory and San Pedrito, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Flores.

At the door of the Scalabrini Ortiz police station at 1300, in Palermo, to where he went to take "things" for his 21-year-old son, the man

repeatedly

apologized

to the family of the deceased child before the television cameras, and He repeated several times that the young man "had a traffic accident, but he did not go out to rob or kill anyone, nor is he a criminal."

Papadopulos admitted to the C5N cameras that "perhaps" his son was driving "

a little too fast

, but not at a very high speed" and that "a truck with a trailer that passed a red light prevented his vision."

In addition, he said that he trusts that "God and Justice" will determine the truth.

“I apologize to these people that I know are not having a good time, because

this is not easy.

It is not easy for us either.

My son was driving, he didn't steal, he didn't kill a 4-year-old angel of god.

He was unlucky enough to run over

. "

Ricardo Emanuel Papadopulos, the young man who ran over and killed in Flores, surrendered after spending nine days on the run.

Photo: Enrique García Medina

Another of the aggravating factors that the owner of the white Volkswagen Golf that was involved in the accident recognized, and who was detained one day when it was not yet proven whether the driver was actually his son, is that Ricardo Emanuel Papadopulos

does not have and never had a license of driving.

"I know that at some point he went to take it out and for some unknown reason they did not give it to him; but it was not because of him," he said.

Although he agreed that, under this circumstance, what corresponded was that his son did not drive;

He was sympathetic

to the behavior of his son, whom he said he had never seen since the tragedy occurred until the boy gave himself up, just seven days later.

"We agree that he could not drive,

I am not going to defend him,

" he said and explained why he thinks his son did not respect this impediment.

"He is a boy who is 21 years old and does not think like you, that he must be older, or like me. You know that

today's boys do worse things

than driving without registration," he said.

Rubén Ariel Papadópulos, when he was arrested when he presented himself as the owner of the car that starred in the tragfedia.

The father of the arrested driver told how he found out about the accident.

"I had a call from my son, telling me: '

Dad, I had an accident, I'm very scared, I'm shocked

.' He started crying, he cut off the phone and I didn't hear from him anymore. We found out about everything through the media", said and justified, also, the delay of his son to appear in the police.

"I was very shocked because the vehicle was in my name, imagine my son what had to have happened to be able to make the decision (to surrender).

I thank God that we were able to present ourselves

,

" he

said after admitting that to himself he had a hard time making that decision.

"But it is what had to be done," he said.

Papadopulos refused to answer whether, eventually, to remove responsibility from his son, he had said that he was the one who was driving.

"It is not something for me to answer," he said, somewhat annoyed by the question. 

Regarding the circumstances of the accident that occurred on the night of Thursday, December 17, and in line with the arguments that the detainee's defense attorney is making, he suggested that a large part of the responsibility could fall on

a truck that was circulating in San Pedrito. and went through the red light.

"Everything is going to be determined by the Justice, but a truck took away my son's vision. A truck that passed with a red light crossed him, and it was not a small truck. It

was a huge trailer

," he said.

Ricardo Emanuel Papadopulos, 21, in a video that had been taken at the wheel and circulated after the tragedy.

"I don't want to blame anyone. Justice is there to do justice. I saw videos. Those that all of Argentina saw and others that I watched. At first glance I see that the traffic light is not right for the truck to cross," continued Papadópulos , who also stressed that

in the corner of the tragedy there is no timer

so that pedestrians can know how long it is until the signal change before starting to cross.

Always referring to what the images that the cameras took in the place show, Papadopulos maintained that, when the truck crossed, neither the young man at the wheel nor the mother who was crossing the Directory noticed the situation in time to avoid it.

"These people are surprised by him and my son can't do anything," he said.

He also appealed to the videos to maintain that the speed at which Ricardo Papadopulos was circulating was not extraordinary: "I think that a meter or half meter from my son's car you can see two motorcycles, and also a vehicle. great speed, they would be further away ", argument.

Papadopulos pointed out that his son passed in green, which would indicate that he was not going at a speed of

between 50 and 60 kilometers per hour

, because otherwise he would have encountered the signal in red, due to the synchronization times of the green wave in Buenos Aires avenues, which in general is 58 kilometers per hour.

"At one point, when he sees this lady and this little creature, what he managed to do, because I know him, is to hit the steering wheel to the left, because I see him on camera," the man continued.

"I don't know why he hasn't hit the brakes, maybe out of fear or it was too late, but it is very clear that the car, when unfortunately run over, is on its side,

trying to avoid the situation

."

Papadopulos said he did not know the person who accompanied Ricardo in the car, who appears next to him in the images taken by cameras in the garage where he left the vehicle minutes after the accident, the place he fled - according to the father - without knowing the fatal outcome of the accident.

"He found out the next day," he clarified.

Ricardo Papadopulos was seen in images captured by cameras from a garage at the time he got off the Volkswagen Golf after the accident.

"I do not know him, because I do not know what friends my son has. He did not live with me. That boy was very clear about the subject, the situation. He put on his hood and tried not to show himself. And my son, they realize that he is a normal boy, who has no evil, did not cover his face when he got out of the car, "he said.

In addition, he argued that when Ricardo grabs his head, as seen in the images, it was not because of the damage suffered by his vehicle, but because of the serious accident he had starred in.

"I was very shocked because the vehicle was in my name, imagine my son what had to have happened," he insisted at another point in the interview.

He also said that his son, he and the rest of his family are evangelical Christians and believe in God. 

"My son does not drink alcohol, nor does he use drugs. He is healthy. He congregates in the Christian Church of God. At some point he will have moved away a bit from the Church, because he is young, we all make mistakes at some point. But he is a Christian person and in all my family we are Christians, "he said.

The VW Golf that caused the Flores tragedy and was driven by Ricardo Papadopulos ..

"I will never say that my son has to go to prison, because that was a traffic accident that could have seen me, you or anyone else, because there are traffic accidents every day, unfortunately," said Papadopulos in another section of the interview.

"It was difficult for us to come, but here we are. I introduced myself, my son appeared. He is in there, and God and justice are going to do justice, because we are not criminals. We are humble people. That we are gypsies does not mean that we are all bad. We are people like everyone else, "he said crying at the end of the talk on the sidewalk of the police station.

To conclude, he reiterated the request for forgiveness to Isaac's family and his mother.

"It was my turn, my poor little son who is in here. Only God and justice know what is going to happen. I don't want to get ahead of myself or say too many things. I want to tell the truth, of the misfortune that I go through This. So I'm sorry to the family, and whatever they need they can count on us, "he closed.

Look also

The young man who ran over and killed the 4-year-old boy in Flores will testify this Sunday at 11

"I ask the judge not to believe anything, not even apologize," claimed the sister of Isaac, the 4-year-old boy who was run over in Flores