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Driver accused of fatal red-light crash, dragging victims
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic /Crime & Justice

Driver accused of fatal red-light crash, dragging victims

From Diario Libre · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified In the courts
  • A driver identified as "Nino Dólar" is accused of running a red light and fatally striking a motorcycle carrying three people.
  • Two of the victims, a father and daughter, died at the scene after being run over and dragged by the vehicle.
  • The suspect, who has prior accusations of illegal firearm possession, had his case transferred from a criminal court to a traffic tribunal.

A man known as "Nino Dólar" faces serious charges after allegedly running a red light and causing a fatal collision that killed a father and his daughter. The incident occurred at the intersection of Abraham Lincoln and Independencia avenues when Carlos José Troche Rodríguez, "Nino Dólar," reportedly drove through a red signal, impacting a motorcycle carrying three individuals.

According to the prosecution's request for coercive measures, the victims were waiting for the traffic light to turn green when the collision occurred. The suspect is accused of dragging the victims after the initial impact and running them over. The judge of Permanent Attention for the penal jurisdiction, Rigoberto Sena, transferred the case to a traffic tribunal, a decision that angered the victims' families.

The incident happened around 3:37 AM on August 15. The document presented to the court states that "Nino Dólar" brutally and inhumanely continued driving after the impact, dragging the victims and then fleeing the scene. Wilmer Ernesto Rodríguez Silverio, 38, and his 21-year-old daughter, Wilkaren Massiel Rodríguez, died from their injuries, while Arianna Michelle Ciprian sustained injuries.

it does not constitute a simple traffic accident resulting from an unforeseeable contingency, but an event of extreme gravity.

— Prosecution documentDescribing the severity of the alleged hit-and-run incident.

The prosecution's case emphasizes that the event was not a simple traffic accident but an "event of extreme gravity." This is not the first time Troche Rodríguez has faced legal scrutiny. Three years prior, he was arrested during a raid at his home in Puerto Plata, allegedly for illegal firearm possession and other illicit items. At that time, authorities were reportedly investigating a card-cloning ring.

"Nino Dólar" is also a former candidate for councilor in Puerto Plata for the Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC). The victims' families expressed outrage at the judge's decision to move the case to a traffic tribunal, where the maximum penalty is significantly lower than for homicide. They vocally accused the defendant of being a "murderer" outside the courthouse, demanding that the case be tried as a homicide.

murderer

— Victims' familiesShouted at the defendant after the judge transferred the case to a traffic tribunal.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Diario Libre in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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