"I regret having approached to record, but I have not done anything wrong and I should not be here. I only exceeded the speed, and I regret it a lot." This is what the driver of the car from which the now famous video was recorded, in which a motorcycle appears doing a 'wheelie' at full speed on the Arrecife Circunvalación, said during the trial. Oriol Suárez has thus acknowledged that he exceeded the speed limit, but has denied that he drove recklessly as the Prosecutor's Office maintains.
For his part, the accused of driving the motorcycle has continued to insist that he is not the one who appears in the video, although he does recognize that he has access to a motorcycle like the one seen in the images. In addition, both Oriol Suárez and Manuel Cecilio Salces deny that they agreed to record the video. The trial was held this Wednesday and has been seen for sentencing. The Prosecutor's Office is asking for two years in prison and six years of deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles for both of them.
The first to answer questions from the Prosecutor's Office and the defense was Oriol Suárez Rodríguez, the driver of the car. This defendant had already acknowledged during the investigation of the case that he was driving the Honda Civic that is seen in the images when the video was recorded; and he has confirmed it again during the hearing. He has also admitted that he drove above the speed limit and that he was aware of it, although he assures that "at most" he did so at 140 kilometers per hour and not at the 180 established by the police report. When the judge gave him the floor at the end of the hearing, Suárez said that he "regrets a lot" having exceeded the speed limit, but believes that this is his only fault.
"We were not following the motorcycle"
The Prosecutor's Office argues, on the other hand, that in addition to speeding, there was reckless driving; and it supports this with facts such as the co-pilot having to shout "be careful!" when approaching the vehicle in front. The prosecutor believes that the defendant then had to perform an "evasive maneuver" to avoid a collision. Suárez, however, does not think the same. "He (the co-pilot, who is his cousin and who recorded the video) believed that he had not seen the car, but in the video it can be seen that I start the maneuver before he shouts 'be careful'", he has responded to questions from the Prosecutor's Office, adding that "not at all" the co-pilot shouted at him because he almost hit the car. "Well, you have seen the video many times", the prosecutor replied. To prove his arguments, Suárez's defense has asked him if he "exceeded 180 kilometers per hour" or if at any time he stopped driving with both hands on the steering wheel. To both questions, the defendant has answered no.
Suárez has also denied the "connivance" with the driver of the motorcycle, assuring that they were not following him and that his cousin and he decided to record him because they "like motorcycles" and "it is rare to see someone doing a wheelie in that way". In addition, he has assured that he does not know who uploaded the video to social networks, pointing out that he only shared it with some friends. It was precisely this dissemination through social networks that allowed the video to reach the hands of the Local Police of Arrecife. In fact, the agents have based a good part of their report on the video and on the fact that it was shared by Whatsapp. Thanks to these images, they have determined, among other things, the speed at which they were going or the distance they traveled doing those maneuvers, which for the Prosecutor's Office represent an "evident danger".
"He doesn't remember" who owns the motorcycle
As for the other defendant, Manuel Salces, he has insisted that he was not the one driving, as he already stated in his first statement in court. In fact, his defense has presented a certificate with which he tries to prove that the defendant was working when the events occurred, on October 24. Salces has admitted to having access to a motorcycle like the one that appears in the video, although he assures that it is not his and that the "fenders and mirrors" are different. He has also indicated that he has gloves and shoes "similar" to those worn by the motorcyclist in the images, which the Police claim are the same.
The Local Police found an advertisement for the sale of that motorcycle in the Facebook group 'Babosas a saco' in which Salces' number appeared as a contact. He, however, although he recognizes that he placed an advertisement on several internet pages to sell that motorcycle, emphasizes that it is not his and that, in addition, the "fenders and mirrors" are different from the one in the video. Thus, when asked by his defense, he has insisted that he is not the owner of that vehicle. However, when the prosecutor has requested it, he has not been able to specify who the owner is. "It's from a guy from Las Palmas, but I don't remember his name", he has told her.
According to what he has explained, the motorcycle is usually kept in a garage in Costa Teguise that is not his and whose owner also has access to the vehicle. In addition, Salces has said that he has shown the motorcycle to 4 people and, of them, he has left it to 3 "to try it". When asked by his defense, the defendant has also pointed out that the Local Police went to look for him at his work and that "at no time" did they go to his house to ask him to show them the motorcycle.
"I removed the profile picture from Whatsapp because of everything it was generating"
Also in Salces' statement, the prosecutor's questions have been key to try to prove that he had agreed with Suárez to record the video. He, although he has pointed out that he knows the other defendant –"we have friends in common and we have coincided in some place"-, has denied that "connivance".
The Local Police found out that Manuel Salces had put the image of the motorcyclist doing the 'wheelie' as a profile picture on Whatsapp, although he later removed it. According to what he has explained to the prosecutor, he did it "because of everything it was generating". "That if one accuses the one next to him...", he has begun by saying, to end up admitting before the questions of the Prosecutor's Office that "some people" had assumed that he was the one who was raising the motorcycle on one wheel. That image corresponds, for the Police, to a frame from the original video. Salces, however, alleges that it was "passed to him by a whatsapp group". "A group in which Oriol or his cousin were by chance?", the prosecutor has asked him, to which the defendant has responded, again, no.
