DistantNews
Support us
🇨🇴 Colombia /Crime & Justice

Family says driver accused in Gabriela Peña's death had caused previous crashes while drunk

From El Tiempo · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Gabriela Peña Gómez, 30, died on Aug. 30 when a Mercedes SUV carrying her and the driver crashed into the back of a truck on Colombia’s Bogotá-Girardot highway.
  • Peña’s family alleges that the driver, identified by relatives as Andrés Cubillos, had previously caused crashes while intoxicated and may have been driving drunk in this incident.
  • Relatives say Cubillos remains free and fear he could leave Bogotá or Colombia, while authorities investigate the circumstances and alleged procedural irregularities.

Gabriela Peña Gómez’s family says the man who was driving when she died in a crash on Colombia’s Bogotá-Girardot highway had a history of driving while drunk and wrecking vehicles.

The 30-year-old woman died on Aug. 30 in the Alto de Rosas sector. A high-end Mercedes SUV carrying Peña and the driver, whom her family identified as Andrés Cubillos, struck the rear of a truck after apparently losing control at high speed. The two friends had been traveling toward Melgar, in Tolima.

This is not the first occasion with a fatal victim. I don’t know if it is the third or fourth time that he has had a total loss in his cars. He already had a pattern of being drunk all the time and crashing the cars. Several years ago he had an accident with friends because he was drunk, and we have evidence and photos that we will reveal at the right time

· Jhonathan Albarracín CárdenasPeña’s husband alleged that the driver had previously caused crashes while intoxicated.

Peña’s husband, Jhonathan Albarracín Cárdenas, told Blu Radio that this was allegedly not Cubillos’s first alcohol-related crash. “This is not the first occasion with a fatal victim. I don’t know if it is the third or fourth time that he has had a total loss in his cars. He already had a pattern of being drunk all the time and crashing the cars. Several years ago he had an accident with friends because he was drunk, and we have evidence and photos that we will reveal at the right time,” he said.

had killed Gabriela

· Andrés Cubillos, according to Paula PeñaPeña’s sister said the driver used these words when he called her after the crash.

The family said Cubillos initially blamed another vehicle for crossing into the road. They said a recording from another car appeared to show a different account. Paula, Peña’s younger sister, said Cubillos called after the crash and allegedly told her that he “had killed Gabriela.”

Relatives are worried because Cubillos remains free and they do not know where he is. They fear he could leave Bogotá or even the country to avoid judicial proceedings. Paula also told City TV that people at the scene described the driver as visibly intoxicated. The family believes he may have been released because of an alleged irregularity in the authorities’ procedure.

I think someone told us, or there is a video showing that he really was quite intoxicated

· Paula PeñaShe described accounts suggesting the driver appeared drunk at the scene.
About this summary

Originally published by El Tiempo in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog