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Today's paper. Last Updated: 02/10/2012

No Charges for Driver in Shock YouTube Crash

The Moscow Times

A driver who plowed into two pedestrians and then examined her car for damage while ignoring the badly injured victims does not face any criminal charges, a news report said.

The driver, Anna Shavenkova, 28, daughter of the Irkutsk region's election committee chairwoman, drove onto a sidewalk in the city of Irkutsk on Dec. 2, hitting the two female pedestrians, one of whom later died in the hospital.

A security camera on a nearby building taped Shavenkova getting out of her car to look for possible damage to the hood, paying no attention to the pedestrians lying on the sidewalk near the car.

The video recording of the incident later surfaced on YouTube (embedded below), prompting shock from many viewers.

One of the pedestrians, Yelena Pyatakova, 34, died later in the hospital, while her 27-year-old sister, Yulia, suffered serious injuries.

But police investigators do not suspect Shavenkova of wrongdoing in the incident and are treating her as a witness, the regional portal Babr.ru reported Sunday.

The report also said the investigators failed to test Shavenkova for alcohol after the incident.

No one has been accused of wrongdoing in the case, Babr.ru said.

Phone calls to Irkutsk prosecutors and city police went unanswered Tuesday, a public holiday.

Shavenkova's mother, Irkutsk regional election committee chairwoman Lyudmila Shavenkova, has made no public comment about the incident. The news ignited anger in the Russian blogosphere over the weekend.

Warning: This video contains images of a fatal car crash which some viewers may find disturbing.




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Randy Elder

I think the driver is as cold as Stalin's heart.  While she may not have been at fault for the accident her failing to aid and assist is morally and ethically wrong. The woman is a coward.  If she was carrying a firearm which accidently discharged we can assume she would walk off leaving the injured to die.  Would there be any difference if it were children she hit or for that matter Putin?   

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