Yahoo News U.S. Soldier Was Way Over Alcohol Limit When She Fatally Struck Group of Kids, Cops Say
An American soldier is under house arrest inside the U.S. Air Force Aviano Air Base in northern Italy after fatally striking a 15-year-old boy who was walking with friends on a pedestrian trail early Sunday morning.
Investigators say the 20-year-old female soldier had four times the alcohol level in her blood when the accident took place.
The soldier, who has been identified only as B.J.N. in accordance with Italian privacy laws, had no illegal substances in her blood, but she was legally drunk, the Pordenone prosecutor confirmed to The Daily Beast.
Aviano officials did not immediately respond to questions about the incident.
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The boy, Giovanni Zanier, was walking home from a summer party on a bike trail with friends at 2:30 a.m. when the soldier lost control of her car as she sped around a roundabout and crossed a low median, striking the group.
Zanier was thrown several feet into the air and died on impact. No other teens were injured, but several who were on bicycles said that the soldier’s car was moving at great speed.
The soldier stopped to try to offer assistance until first responders arrived. She was taken into custody by police but then released to the U.S. authorities due to her military status.
The bike-pedestrian trail was unlit after the local authorities chose to turn off lights at night to save energy, the local town council confirmed. It is not clear if the absence of lights would have saved the teen since the car crossed illegally into the bike trail.
The local prosecutor says he is now working to ensure that the soldier is not transferred to the U.S. for trial. As a member of the U.S. military, she could be given immunity like U.S. spy Anne Sacoolas, who fatally struck 19-year-old Harry Dunn on his motorbike when she drove on the wrong side of the road at a military base in the U.K. She has not faced criminal trial in the U.S. but has been found criminally responsible for the teen’s death.
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