The Lamborghini SUV driven by Matteo Di Pietro was traveling at over 124 kilometers per hour “immediately before the impact” with the Smart that caused the death of 5-year-old Manuel. This is what emerges from the order with which the investigating judge of Rome ordered the house arrest for the young youtuber under investigation for aggravated road homicide and injuries.
“On board they asked him to slow down”
In the papers of judge Angela Gerardi, details that begin to shed light on what happened on the day of the accident in Casal Palocco in Rome. Di Pietro rented the Lamborghini SUV with «the sole and obvious purpose of impressing and capturing the attention of young web visitors to increase advertising revenue, to the detriment of safety and responsibility and consequently to proceed at a higher speed to the indicated limits. Especially since some of the passengers present inside the Lamborghini had repeatedly invited them to reduce the speed they perceived as excessive with respect to the limit of 50 km/h».
124 km/h in 14 seconds
From an examination of the data from the GPS of the SUV, «it emerges essentially that the Lamborghini was traveling along via dei Pescatori, from which it came, heading towards via Macchia Saponara, at a speed of about 145 km/h; that when it was time to take via di Macchia Saponara at 3.38 pm, it stopped; which, having taken this road, regained speed, reaching a speed of 124 km/h immediately before the impact in just 14 seconds”. The ordinance also underlines that “on the other hand, the data taken from the GPS signaled the sudden acceleration of the vehicle which, once it entered via di Macchia Saponara, went from 0 km/h to 124 km/h, shortly before the impact – we read – The absence of braking marks probably demonstrates – underlines the investigating judge – that the sudden and very rapid deceleration was a consequence of the sighting of the car near the point where it verified the accident.
The testimony of the bus driver
The ordinance also shows how the woman driving the Smart, Manuel’s mother, had inserted the arrow before turning. The bus driver who was passing at that moment on via di Macchia Saponara reports it to the investigators. The man said he saw the Smart which «activated the left direction indicator and started the turning manoeuvre; at one point, however, she was overwhelmed by a Lamborghini. The maneuver carried out by the Smart for the turn into via Archelao di Mileto had been very rapid, without hesitation, which led him to believe – writes the investigating judge – that the driver of the Smart had not seen or had not noticed the arrival of the Lamborghini , which he himself had not attempted to brake. After the collision, the Smart had been dragged for a few meters and then unhooked from the Lamborghini, stopping close to the right-hand sidewalk».
Di Pietro’s personality “doesn’t appear reassuring”
«There is a danger of tampering with the evidence, as deemed by the prosecutor, taking into account the failure to find, inside the Lamborghini, the two cameras used for recording the videos which, as reported by Di Pietro’s friends, were in operation and at the time of the accident used by one of them », writes the investigating judge. As regards the personality of the suspect, the judge states that «it does not appear reassuring, taking into account that his main source of income would appear to be represented precisely by the production of videos to be published on websites referable to the company TheBorderline srl, of which the suspect he is a shareholder as well as managing director and who has previously made other videos and challenges on board cars, proposing similar challenges, with the risk of endangering his own safety and that of other road users”.
“He may commit further crimes”
Regarding the serious indications of guilt for the judge “there are, in the case in question, specific precautionary requirements and, in particular, the concrete and current danger is recognized that the suspect could commit further crimes of the same type as those for which the proceeding , inferable from the manner of conduct, seriously imprudent, since it took the form of driving a large-engined car at sustained speed and in any case certainly higher than the maximum limit imposed in urban centres, moreover in broad daylight and despite the presence of pedestrian crossings”. Furthermore, the “found positivity to cannabinoids then, although it does not go to integrate the aggravating circumstance of the road homicide, which in fact the public prosecutor did not dispute since it could refer to assumptions dating back to several days earlier, further underlines a transgressive trait of the nature of the suspect, which confirms the picture outlined above. It is therefore essential to adopt a precautionary measure that is adequate to deal with this danger of recurrence”. Tomorrow, Tuesday 27 June, the guarantee interrogation for Matteo Di Pietro.