Officer killed after car chase; Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office rules out ramming
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the alleged offences of causing death by dangerous driving and dangerous driving resulting in a hit-and-run
Key points
A tragedy unfolded yesterday evening, 22 June, in Milan, not far from Linate Airport, where a 39-year-old local police officer died during a chase involving an Audi Q7 that failed to stop at a roadblock. The 39-year-old, Francesco Imprezzabile, had intercepted the vehicle in the Ponte Lambro area, on Via Vittorini, and had set off in pursuit on his service motorbike, alongside other patrols.
The car was later found abandoned in Pioltello, a town in the Milanese hinterland not far from the scene of the accident.
At 12 noon today, the driver of the SUV was tracked down and identified in the province of Monza and Brianza. A second person was identified alongside him. The two young men, both Albanian nationals, were apprehended in Monza by the local police forces of Monza and Milan.
At a press conference, the commander of the Milan local police, Gianluca Mirabelli, explained that Imprezzabile was carrying out a joint operation in the Ponte Lambro area when, together with colleagues from the local police and the traffic police “they spotted a SUV behaving in a suspicious manner. They decided to stop it for a check, but the driver accelerated, reaching considerable speeds ”, said Mirabelli, adding that “the chase began at around 9.30 pm in Via Vittorini” in Milan.
The deceased officer, two of his colleagues on motorbikes and a traffic police patrol car set off in pursuit. Imprezzabile was leading the chase, but on ‘Via Milano’ in the municipality of Peschiera Borromeo, he was ‘lost from view by his colleagues. A few minutes later, they found the vehicle by the side of the road and, shortly afterwards, the body of their colleague, who died at 10.30 pm at Niguarda Hospital.
