The Carabinieri and magistrates have always been convinced of this: the German truck driver who, driving a truck, hit and killed former cycling champion Davide Rebellin on a roundabout on 30 November could not have failed to have seen what he had done. In fact, he had stopped the truck, got out, looked at the destroyed bicycle and the body of the cyclist, and set off again, losing track. Today, 7 months after the fact, Wolfgang Rieke, 62, a lorry driver from Recke, a small town in northern Germany, was arrested on a European warrant requested by the Vicenza gip.
Riding with David
Davide Cassani
A fixed point after very long months in which Rebellin’s family members waited for a response from the German authorities. The investigations by the Carabinieri, within 48 hours, had arrived at the identification of the truck, from the name of the company imprinted on the tarpaulin, from the license plate and therefore from the driver. But at that point Rieke – who has so far denied responsibility for him – had already returned to Germany. Country in which the crime of vehicular homicide does not exist in the code, as it is in Italy. However, the crime of omission to help is contemplated, sanctioned with imprisonment of up to three years. And probably this, with the evidence provided on the 62-year-old’s pirate behavior, led to his arrest. On January 20, the Italian investigators had carried out an inspection in the truck driver’s company, Duveneck, where the truck was kept – the tractor in the meantime unhooked from the crash trailer – discovering that there were deformations in the plastics at the impact with Rebellin’s bike and body. In addition, the articulated lorry had been washed with an acid detergent on the parts affected by the impact.
Rebellin death: this is how the truck driver who killed him was framed
The technical consultancy – the prosecutor of Vicenza, Lino Giorgio Bruno announced – had ascertained “that the driver had direct and indirect visibility available which allowed him to adequately perceive the presence of the cyclist on the roadway”.
Wolfgang Rieke is under ‘provisional arrest’ in the prison of Münster (Germany). Within 60 days, the German authorities will have to decide whether or not he will accept the extradition request to Italy. Otherwise, the man could also decide to surrender himself spontaneously to our country. It is true that the public prosecutor’s consultant writes in the report that “a culpable behavior by Rebellin entering the roundabout is evident”. “This, however – he adds – had no significance with respect to the cause of the accident, given that the cyclist was always in front of the truck when approaching the roundabout, at a sufficient distance to be able to see it on the large windscreen”. Then there is the yellow of the camera on the truck – from the roundabout the vehicle was entering the junction of a parking lot – “which is activated automatically – says the consultant – when the direction indicator comes on”. That, of course, if the arrow had been placed correctly by the truck driver.
“It is a first, decisive step towards truth and justice for Davide” commented the brother of the former champion, Carlo Rebellin. «Finally – he adds – we have the certainty of what happened, and of being able to do justice to my brother. We have been waiting for this news for a long time, we hope the first step to punish the person responsible ».