Spouses die after traffic accident caused by a minor in Riohacha

On April 14, at the intersection of the 7H race with 17th and 18th streets in Riohacha, a minor under the age of 16 caused a traffic accident in which six people were injured. Two of them, Juan de Dios Vargas Useche and Criseida María Yepes Cruz, died after spending 10 days in intensive care in a hospital in Valledupar where they were transferred due to the serious injuries caused by the young man.

The incident occurred in the early hours of that Thursday, when the car driven by the minor hit the group of people who were in a fast food store in the capital of La Guajira. Due to the heavy blows they received from the impact, the first to die was Criseid and hours later her husband died in the morning of this Saturday, April 23. This couple left five orphaned children, four of them minors.

According to Luis Pablo de Armas, director of the Institute of Transit, Transport and Mobility of the District of Riohacha, “we are struck by the fact that the young man is a minor, did not have a driver's license and that the car did not have insurance.” In addition, he assured that the young man did not respect the traffic signs, while the vehicle he was driving had no SOAT, nor a technomechanical review.

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Although the couple lived in Riohacha with their children, the funeral will take place separately, according to the information provided by the relatives. Vargas, who was originally from Bucaramanga, will be buried in Valledupar where his family resides, while the mortal remains of Criseida will be transferred to his homeland in Sahagún (Córdoba).

Regarding the situation the young man was in at the time of causing the tragic accident, the traffic officer stated that “the medical record says that he was in a drunken state when he was admitted to the care center for treatment because he was also injured in the accident.”

However, it was reported that the alcohol test given to the minor after 12 hours of the accident had been negative. Witnesses claim that the minor tried to escape from the scene, but was apprehended and almost lynched by the people who were there.

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“The young man is going to prosecute, but because he is a minor and seriously injured, the case goes to the Prosecutor's Office and will be prosecuted through the Children and Adolescents Police,” explained the director of the district traffic.

Relatives of the victims assured El Tiempo that the vehicle was without brakes and the minor, who is in detention, accepted the charges. At the hearing they stated that he had drunk two beers and that his shoelace got tangled in the brake of the car.

Finally, the Director of Traffic also held the minor's parents responsible for the accident, “Irresponsibility of the parents who let the car out at that time by a minor in a state of liquor and also without a driver's license, that is, he has not taken any driving course”.

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