Police will have to apologize to emigrants: patrols led patrols to drive 2-year-old to drive

“When the officers unjustifiably took my driver’s license, I said I couldn’t continue the trip, but they weren’t worried about it,” he said, “one of you can drive,” and he left, leaving me with a child in a remote location in a cold dark night “Kęstutis J. said

The “one” who, according to the police, can sit behind the wheel of a car, was the son of J. Kestutis, who was only two years old. The police behavior scared the boy when necessary: ​​the moment the migrant stopped next to the officers he obeyed their demands and stopped the car, the minor was asleep, but the patrols woke up the boy when his eyes began to shine. in the spotlight.

“The officials acted unprofessionally, tactlessly and violated the requirements of the law tonight,” Kęstutis J. is convinced.

And he was right: that the police patrols stopped the car driven by Kęstutis J. at night without a legal basis and illegally took away his driver’s license, and in the administrative offense protocol he unreasonably and objectively indicated the circumstances related to the incident, declared the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania.

According to the court, patrols of the Highway Patrol Unit of the Tauragė County Highway Police Division violated the principles of professional ethics, public morals, legality, justice, exemplary and respect for human beings: police officers they must be fair in their official activities, they must ensure that their decisions are legal and objective. Furthermore, in all situations they must remain tactical and follow universally accepted moral standards, and in their conduct they must strive to set an example for others.

There was no guarantee that the police would stop

Addressing the court, Kęstutis J. noted that in 2018. March 16 At night, he was driving from the airport with his two-year-old son to his parents’ house, when another car started driving in the Šilutė district, close to the city of Žemaičiai Naumiestis, without keeping a safe distance.

“Due to poor visibility, it was not possible to see what type of car it was,” the man told the court. – Only after a while did the blue and red beacons on the car light up. In fact, I got lost in this situation, but when I realized that I was stopping, without increasing my speed and without stopping abruptly, I stopped and found a safe place: a bus stop. Before I stopped, I closed the car door from the inside because it was dark during the day, the section of the road was not lit, and I wasn’t even sure if the police had stopped me. “

The migrant was surprised that police officers decided to stop his Opel Vectra in the middle of the night in a completely no-light area; his behavior could cause doubts for any driver.

“The officer, getting out of his car, immediately ran to my car and tried to open the door fiercely, but when he failed, he hit the window with his fist several times,” said Kęstutis J.

When he finally realized that the police had detained him, the migrant opened the window and immediately asked why he had been detained.

“The officer replied that there was a prevention of poisoning tests and asked for documents,” Kęstutis J. continued his story. “When the sobriety test was performed, the breathalyzer data showed zero. Later, officers began to illuminate the interior of the car with a light bulb, thus awakening the boy, who began to cry in fear. I still don’t understand why why it was necessary to educate the child directly in the eyes. Then the officials checked the trunk of my car and my suitcases, although they explained that the reason for the suspension was a sobriety check. “

According to the man, the officers wrote him a report of administrative misconduct stating that he had not complied with the police officers’ legal request to stop, and that the car was not covered by liability insurance. But this was not true: the driver stopped as soon as he found a safe place and the vehicle was insured, only the driver was unable to provide an insurance policy.

According to the migrant, the officers wrote the protocol of the administrative crime for more than 40 minutes, and when he asked the patrols to introduce themselves, they told him that the names of the officers would be written in the full report.

“But there was a last name on record,” he said. “I told them that I lived in England and that I could not go to court unless I was in England.”

Kęstutis J. refused to sign the protocol for administrative misconduct completed by officials, as he did not violate the Traffic Rules.

“Officials said they had been speeding up, but said they had no evidence to do so, they refused to return their driver’s license to me and said they could not continue the trip, saying” one of you could drive. “” I was left with a little boy in the middle of the night when it was just 5 degrees outside. “

Aimed at ensuring traffic safety

Kęstutis J., who stayed on the road at night with her young son, returned home only a few hours later, when his father came to his aid: he called a taxi with another driver to pick up not only a man with a small child, but also a car.

The migrant made no secret of the fact that police officers mocked him, but was more concerned about his young son; after all, they both stayed almost in the middle of the forest.

“The boy was very scared and cried,” said Kęstutis J., saying that police officers had brought unfounded charges against him and had taken his driver’s license without any legal basis.

At that time, the police patrol stated in their official report that that night he and his colleague had been working in the Šilutė district, they had to ensure public order and traffic safety.

“Around 1 pm At night, in the Šilutė district, Budrikai village, we noticed an Opel Vectra car maneuvering suspiciously, so we decided to stop it, the official said. – After approaching the car, we turned on the special headlights. blue and red light, but the driver of the car paid no attention to him and after increasing the speed, he continued driving towards Žemaičių Naumiestis The guard of the Taurag County Police Operations Management Division was informed about the car without stopping When we were leveled with the stationary car, I pulled the brake rod out of the window on the left side of the window and demanded to stop the vehicle with clear movements.The driver of the Opel Vectra turned to us and clearly saw our demand to stop the car, but did not react and continued driving. After approximately 1 km, the driver stopped at the bus stop. “

According to the official, after stopping the car, it became clear that the car driven by J. Kęstutis was not covered by the compulsory civil liability insurance in accordance with the established procedure, therefore, a report on the violations.

The administrative rape case was considered by the Tauragė police after ten days, but Kęstutis J. did not participate in this hearing: the man had already left for England.

The resolution adopted by the head of the traffic police department stated that it had not been established from the administrative crime material, the video and other procedural documents that Kęstutis J. had disobeyed the patrol’s request to stop the car, for therefore, the charges were dropped; the man was only warned because the driver did not have a third party liability insurance policy with him.

I don’t hear the answer

Addressing the court, Kęstutis J. pointed out that the illegal behavior of the police officers not only caused non-pecuniary damage, which manifested itself in fear and emotion, fear of the child and his own safety when he was left almost in the middle of the forest. with a scared and crying child, but also to the property. he had been disqualified from driving without a legal basis and was therefore unable to work in England for approximately a week.

“I did not receive an apology from the head of the police institution or an explanation of the illegal decision (action) due to this incident. I am forced to think and remember it all the time. I still do not understand why I was accused and ruined my short vacation in Lithuania”. J. stated that due to this event he had to fly from the UK to Lithuania several times later, as a result of which he suffered financial losses. He also had to explain to his employer why he couldn’t use the car and had to go to Lithuania again.

The migrant asked the Lithuanian state, represented by the Tauragė County Police, to grant one thousand euros to the property and almost 1.7 thousand. Eur – for material damage. Most of this amount consisted of 7 days of unpaid wages.

The Klaipėda Chamber of the Regional Regional Administrative Court partially satisfied J. Kęstutis’ complaint – it awarded all the material damages requested, at which time the court ordered to pay 300 Eur from the police account for the spiritual experiences and the inconveniences he had suffered.

The court noted that in the protocol of administrative offenses the police officer had stated objectively and unreasonably that Kęstutis J. had not complied with the request to stop the vehicle.

“There was no legal basis for the use of coercive measures to enforce administrative crimes: the seizure of a document certifying a special right,” the judges noted that the minutes did not even indicate that officials take a driver’s license and only in exceptional cases.

According to the judges, the police officers could not deny the circumstances mentioned by Kęstutis J. that as a result of which the boy woke up and was afraid that the driver would not be explained on what legal basis the car he was driving stopped and about what legal basis the car luggage and travel bags were checked, that the officers were not presented as required by the Police Patrol Instruction approved by the Lithuanian General Police Commissioner, after all this, the officials of Kęstutis J. they were left in the dark, in 5 degrees of cold, with a small child, without the right to drive a car. “

According to the judges, Kęstutis J. suffered damage due to the officers’ illegal actions: if the patrols had not taken his driver’s license through their illegal actions, he would not have incurred travel expenses and received a salary.

“Police officers from March 16 until March 26. had taken the Kęstutis J. driving license issued in Great Britain, so he was unable to work,” the court emphasized.

According to the judges, the violation committed by the officials was not very intense and lasting, and the impact of the illegal actions of the officials changed in a favorable way for Kęstutis J. – the administrative violation case was partially ended and the driving license it was returned immediately.

The damage will have to be justified

Klaipeda’s judges also noted that Kęstutis J. had unreasonably demanded that police officers apologize to him, such a provision is provided for in the Order of the Lithuanian Police Commissioner General “On Apologies for Illegal Decisions or Actions”.

“The duty of the head of a police institution to apologize to a person on behalf of the police institution and explain the reasons for an illegal act or decision arises if the act or decision was declared illegal by a decision of a competent entity,” stated the court. therefore, an obligation to apologize to Kęstutis County Police Chief J. Tauragė will arise only after the enforcement of this court decision.

And this decision came into force only partially: the police appealed it to the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court (SACL). The court judges who made final and final appeals in administrative cases partially complied with the police complaint and decided to return the case to Klaipėda for a new hearing. It is only true about the material damage awarded to J. Kęstutis, because the court of first instance did not examine in sufficient detail the circumstances that are essential for the correct solution of the case: the migrant will have to corroborate the material damage suffered.

However, part of the decision to find illegal actions by Tauragė police officers has entered into force and is now final. According to SACL judges, although the police disagreed with the trial court’s conclusion that the car driven by the migrant was stopped without a legal basis, they were unable to indicate why the vehicle driven by J. Kęstutis had than being stopped in the middle of the night.

“During the court hearing, the police representative only speculated why the driver was detained, for example, perhaps he took some actions while communicating, reassuring the boy,” the SACL panel of judges emphasized.

After this part of the decision takes effect, the Tauragė County Police Chief will have to send an apology letter to Kęstutis J.