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Police Charge Hit-and-Run Driver With Killing Actress

A screenshot of Alexei Rusakov's video message, in which the 31-year-old Moscow resident admits his guilt and asks for people's forgiveness.

Investigators on Sunday charged the suspect behind the hit-and-run crash that killed well-known actress and TV show host Marina Golub.

The suspect, who police earlier identified as 31-year-old Moscow resident Alexei Rusakov, was detained Saturday at a Moscow metro station after police lured him out of the Moscow region village where he had been hiding, RIA-Novosti reported.

Rusakov now faces charges of multiple manslaughter while violating traffic laws and failing to provide medical assistance to those in danger. The charges carry maximum prison sentences of seven years and one year, respectively.

Rusakov's arrest came after investigators had questioned his fiancee, Viktoria Klyukina, and announced that they suspected her of helping Rusakov evade capture.

Klyukina denies having seen Rusakov since the crash just after midnight Tuesday, but she too may be arrested after police told Interfax that they had “irrefutable evidence” to back their suspicions.

Rusakov has admitted his guilt and asked for people's forgiveness.

In a video message posted on YouTube, he confirmed that he was behind the wheel when his Cadillac ran a red light in southwest Moscow and struck three cars, including a Hyundai gypsy cab in which Golub was traveling.

Both Golub and the driver, Dmitry Turkin, died at the scene of the crash, while Rusakov got out of his car and escaped on foot.

Rusakov said he had “shown cowardice” to flee from investigators and denied that he had been drinking. He also refuted media reports that said he had been involved in 10 crashes and committed multiple traffic violations over the past 12 years.

In another twist in the case, police told RIA-Novosti on Friday that the driver of the gypsy cab, which Golub hailed after her own car was involved in an accident, was using a fake driver's license registered in the name of a Sverdlovsk police officer.

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