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Burnt out cars in Fürth: swath of devastation (February 2022)
Photo: Friedrich / dpa
A truck driver has been sentenced to a suspended sentence of two years for driving under the influence of alcohol through a residential street in Fürth.
In addition, the defendant must surrender his driver's license.
For a period of three years, no German authority may issue him a new driver's license, said judge Sabine Becker-Jastrow in the District Court of Fürth in Bavaria.
The 51-year-old was found guilty, among other things, of endangering road traffic, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson (
AZ 421 Ls 702 Js 101647/22
).
According to the court, the heavily drunk driver drove into an intersection at a red light in February and crashed into a car there.
Then he thundered down a residential street at up to 70 km/h.
The articulated lorry loaded with 26-ton steel parts cut a path of destruction through the residential street.
The result was five injured, demolished and burning cars, damaged houses and total damage of around 800,000 euros.
'It was chaos.
I've never seen anything like it," said a police officer, describing his impressions in court.
"The whole street was in ruins," added one of his colleagues.
The defendant admitted the allegations on the first day of the trial.
According to his own statements, he could not remember large parts of the almost 180-meter-long devastation.
According to an expert, he was less criminally responsible at the time of the crime.
The public prosecutor's office had demanded a prison sentence of three years and the withdrawal of the driver's license.
The defense asked for a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.
wit/dpa
