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Sat, Feb 11 2012
Porsche driver in deadly road accident flees abroad while awaiting charges
Nedelcho Penchev who on July 26 2009 caused a deadly road accident with his Porche GT3 sports car on the Black Sea, killing a Belgian tourist and injuring another, has fled abroad, Bulgarian-language 24 Chassa daily said on August 10 2009.
When the daily called Penchev, 34, on his mobile phone he said he was abroad and unable to speak.
Penchev, according to police experts, was driving at 120km/h in an area where the speed limit was 20km/h. He was able to flee the country because prosecutors had not yet raised charges against him.
For this to happen prosecutors needed all the facts to be in place, a process that takes time.
Eyewitnesses to the road accident said that Penchev was caught in heavy traffic along the southern Black Sea coast. He decided to undertake a risky overtaking manoeuvre at a turn with low visibility. He hit another vehicle and crashed into a Belgian family walking on the roadside near the Ropotamo river, killing a 21-year-old girl.
Meanwhile, more facts from Penchev's past as a driver have emerged.
Last September, Traffic Police caught Penchev's vehicle on tape doing 220km/h on Trakiya highway near Pazardjik. As owner of the vehicle Penchev was summoned to appear before Traffic Police which he failed to do. According to current regulations, his driving licence should have been withdrawn for three months.
According to experts however this could have happened only if Penchev had appeared before Traffic Police and had confessed that he was the one driving with 220km/h, 24 Chassa said.
What Penchev did was to ignore Traffic Police invitation and kept on driving without any sanction.
His record shows two more cases when he was recorded speeding. In 2000 he was fined for speeding as well as in 2004.
Penchev is a businessman owner of several meat processing and trading companies. He hit the Belgium family on the exact spot where two years ago two-time world champion ice skater Maxim Staviski hit a vehicle killing one and seriously injuring another person.
Staviski was given a suspended sentence of two years and six months, with five years' probation, for the crash that led to the death of a young man, Petar Petrov, and severe injuries to a 19-year-old girl, Mihaela Gorsova, who went into a coma after the incident.
When the daily called Penchev, 34, on his mobile phone he said he was abroad and unable to speak.
Penchev, according to police experts, was driving at 120km/h in an area where the speed limit was 20km/h. He was able to flee the country because prosecutors had not yet raised charges against him.
For this to happen prosecutors needed all the facts to be in place, a process that takes time.
Eyewitnesses to the road accident said that Penchev was caught in heavy traffic along the southern Black Sea coast. He decided to undertake a risky overtaking manoeuvre at a turn with low visibility. He hit another vehicle and crashed into a Belgian family walking on the roadside near the Ropotamo river, killing a 21-year-old girl.
Meanwhile, more facts from Penchev's past as a driver have emerged.
Last September, Traffic Police caught Penchev's vehicle on tape doing 220km/h on Trakiya highway near Pazardjik. As owner of the vehicle Penchev was summoned to appear before Traffic Police which he failed to do. According to current regulations, his driving licence should have been withdrawn for three months.
According to experts however this could have happened only if Penchev had appeared before Traffic Police and had confessed that he was the one driving with 220km/h, 24 Chassa said.
What Penchev did was to ignore Traffic Police invitation and kept on driving without any sanction.
His record shows two more cases when he was recorded speeding. In 2000 he was fined for speeding as well as in 2004.
Penchev is a businessman owner of several meat processing and trading companies. He hit the Belgium family on the exact spot where two years ago two-time world champion ice skater Maxim Staviski hit a vehicle killing one and seriously injuring another person.
Staviski was given a suspended sentence of two years and six months, with five years' probation, for the crash that led to the death of a young man, Petar Petrov, and severe injuries to a 19-year-old girl, Mihaela Gorsova, who went into a coma after the incident.
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Talk, talk, talk....geez
So close Penchev's companies - meat and trading and force the asshole to starve abroad. Send interpol after him.
Meanwhile apply the Dutch model dont just talk and consider at nauseam.
KAT can warn all they want. The brainless creatures on the road go on. Fine them, take their license, cuff them, lock them up.
Funny....
Bulgaria and the US have almost identical murder rates...
of course with statistics the devil is in the detail, and the fact is that BG's crime is not as random as in the US, and it's more targeted among the organized thugs.
Also streets are much safer for a walking in BG.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-c
Of course if one allows for the income difference in both countries, it turns out that Bulgarians are just not that violent....
OK I exaggerated a bit but the States do have one Bulgaria in prisons - over 7 million.
One out of every 30 Americans is in prison.
The US has 5% of the world's population and 23.6% of the world's prisoners.
You like that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_
P.S.
And Galya, it's interesting to read that you might've gone to the States for their police, - respectfully - but most of us move around for financial reasons.
The people that leave BG are usually the ones that haven't amounted to much in BG and go to reacher, more organized societies, where it's easier to exist.
Galya:
"Wow. what judicial systems exists in BG. Do this in the USA and every traffic interjunction will be road-blocked with "amber alerts" on every electronic billboard, with city police and state troopers and with the eye in the sky!
Galya, first of all, "Amber alert" is only for kidnapping a child.
The rest is "Man hunt", and the cops in the US end up killing more innocent bystanders while in hot pursuit every year, than would be tolerated in Europe. The US is a Police State.
[...]
Read the full comment />
I am old enough to remember that even in commie times, the average Bulgarian didn't fear/respect the cops, nearly as much as the Americans do. It's not part of our national mentality - we are much more free spirit folks, and yes, that comes with a price - every one is basically responsible for his/hers survival, and you can't count on the government to insure that no one gets hurt..
The Americans have been on a "crusade" (they love that crap) against accidents of all sorts, and their dead rate is still the same as ours: one per person....
The only thing they've succeeded in, is creating the "Land of 10,000 laws, 5 million cops and 40 million prisoners... if you like that kind of thing...
A few weeks a go near me, a Bulgarian guy jump in to save a Czech (I think) father child (little girl) from the sea. He took the girl out and jump back for her dad. He, and the dad never came out. The both drowned. That day 3 people drowned in the sea in that one resort town. Is it save to come to BG? Don't leave home, although I just read somewhere that 800 people die from falling out of bed in the States, every year.
Jon:
"If Bulgaria wishes to change the situation then they will have to have zero tollerance for all traffic offences, with penalties that hurt."
What if Bulgaria doesn't want to change that?
A few killed on the road is a small price for living in a free country. We already tried the police state, and didn't work that well.
this is vehicular manslaugher which is a "FELONY" crime which can be 2nd or 3rd degree felony! the maximum and over the maximum penal guidelines will and could apply, respectively.
Wow. what judicial systems exists in BG. Do this in the USA and every traffic interjunction will be road-blocked with "amber alerts" on every electronic billboard, with city police and state troopers and with the eye in the sky!
Try this in the USA and you will be sentenced to life without liberty and then deported if your still alive. And after [...]
Read the full comment 3 strikes in some states your out for the rest of your life in a "PRISON" and not "Gaol". No wonder most Bulgarians want to leave the country.
There is no invitations in the USA. Its a court summons that must be remedied ASAP. And mandatory appearance for felony crimes or you will be charged with failure to appear which double whammies your offense and without bail @ the first instance.
The so called "rich" in BG are ludicrous hyiennas with no regard for cordial courteous and respectful demeanor for common citizen life.
Are the european court of justice and human rights looking @ the severity of this judicial process and violation of law and rule.
Now do you still think visiting bulgaria is safe. Hell NO! Look @ the justice system in BG.
Does any one think if Bg cannot process a simple manslaugher case in BG that high profile political figures can be handed the right-hand of justice just because they extra green pocket books.
I don,t understand the problem. There are no real traffic laws in Bulgaria. I know this, the public know this, and so do the authorities. Therefore, why is this a news item. If anyone wants proof - at Plovdiv Courts, the police actually assist drivers who are trying to park in a signposted no parking area. Red traffic light only mean it is 'suggested' drivers slow down; driving licences or even the ability to drive are not obligatory for buses and taxis. The KAT may stop any driver for no apparent reason, may levy a fine if they wish, but [...]
Read the full comment may not arrest or hold in custody anyone who they believe may have caused an accident. If Bulgaria wishes to change the situation then they will have to have zero tollerance for all traffic offences, with penalties that hurt. For repeat offenders, how about cancelling the vehicle registration. The owner may keep his/her car, but cannot use it. If they do, then automatic minimum penalty of 10,000 leva fine and 3 months in prison complete with criminal record (and the car is crushed for scrap). Perhaps community service - would be nice to see some of them sweeping the streets in bright orange overalls.
I do not understand Bulgarian law! Why was there only an invitation to appear before the Traffic Police last September, why wasn't it followed up??? If he was punished back then, he may not have been in the position to kill another human being. What are the police doing about bringing him back to face his crime?
long overdue.