"They don't know who they're messing with," "they're going to lose their hair," "I'm a councilman from Teguise and I have immunity"... Those are just some of the phrases that former Somos Lanzarote councilman Ayoze Callero blurted out to the local police officers after crashing his van into the facade of a house in Tinajo and testing positive for drunk driving. This is stated in the police report, which La Voz has had access to, and which indicates that Callero gave 0.96 in that test (from 0.6 onwards it goes from an administrative infraction to a criminal offense). In addition, before hitting that house, Callero hit two vehicles and "fled." Afterwards, when he hit the facade, he bounced and collided with another parked car and even came "close to running over" a pedestrian, according to the Police.
Despite this, the then councilman asked the agents to "turn a blind eye," according to the report. Later, before the judge, he declared two days later that he had only had "a couple of beers" and that he could drive, in addition to stating that he did not "remember very well" what he had said to the police. On the other hand, the proceedings opened in the Courts include a document from the Registry of Convicts of the Ministry of Justice that proves that Ayoze Callero was already convicted in 2009 for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
"He is uncooperative and has a defiant attitude, insulting the agents, stating that he is leaving, that he has done nothing to be held against his will, that he is a councilman of the municipality of Teguise and therefore has immunity." This is how the Local Police's account begins about the moment when their agents responded to a call about an accident on May 16. It was on Tinguatón street, where they found the councilman, who is awaiting trial for an alleged crime against road safety, in a state of intoxication and with his vehicle destroyed. But the 'warnings' of the former councilman, who ended up resigning his seat three days after this accident, did not end there.
"He tries to get these agents to turn a blind eye"
According to that police report, Callero told the police that they did not know "who they were messing with, that his father is a doctor, one of his uncles is a local police officer in the municipality of Teguise and another uncle is a lawyer, that they are going to lose their hair." He even went so far as to say that he is a nurse in the hospital and that "the worst should happen to the families of these agents and that he would take care of giving them their due in the hospital," the report states.
Callero's "defiant and insulting attitude," who refused to receive medical assistance stating that he was "in perfect condition," continued when the Civil Guard officers arrived and after he was given the breathalyzer test. After performing two checks and giving 0.96 milligrams per liter in the first test and 0.89 after twenty minutes, the local agents informed him that he was being charged with a possible crime against road safety and transferred him to their facilities to give him his rights in writing and the summons to the Court.
It was then, "both on the way and in police facilities," when "this person tries to get these agents to turn a blind eye to what happened and let him go as if nothing had happened," the report points out. When the police refused, according to the report Callero became "aggressive, insulting and threatening" again, without "cooperating in anything," and refused to sign both the proceedings and the summons.
"In his state of intoxication, no complaint can be taken from him"
Afterwards, Callero tried to "report" the agents "for the treatment received" to the Civil Guard. According to the Local Police report, once the procedures were completed, the former councilman "refused to leave" the facilities and requested the presence of the Civil Guard to file that complaint.
However, he did not file it, because when the civil guards arrived they informed him that "in the state of intoxication he presents, no complaint can be taken from him," so they recommended that he "rest a little and that the next morning he do the procedures he wishes." According to the report, Callero ended up leaving without giving up on his efforts, assuring that since they "did not want to attend to him," he would go to have "an injury report" made and then go to the National Police.
He told the judge that he only had "a couple of beers" and that he "survived by a miracle"
The former councilman, however, "does not remember" these episodes. This is what he assured Judge Jerónimo Alonso in his statement on the 18th. The hearing was then held for what was going to be a quick trial, but the lack of expert reports - one of them a forensic report of an injured person in the accident - caused it to be postponed twice and finally it will be processed as an ordinary procedure. In that case, Callero will have to face the claims for damages from the owner of the house against which he crashed and also from the owners of the three cars he crashed into.
However, Ayoze Callero also stated before the judge that he did not "remember" having "collided with any vehicle," nor having been "about to run over a pedestrian." He assured that he was not "about to collide with any vehicle that was circulating" and that he believes that he "lost control because he fell asleep." Although he did remember the arrival of the Local Police and the Civil Guard, the former councilman told the judge that he was "in shock because of what had happened" so he also did not "remember very well what happened with the agents," nor having had a "threatening and aggressive tone" with them.
In addition, he assured the magistrate that he had "survived by a miracle." As for what he had taken before getting behind the wheel, he said that he had had "a couple of beers," that he had "not taken solid food" and that he was "in a condition to drive."
According to the proceedings, this is not the first time that Callero has been involved in a similar situation. And it is that the former councilman was convicted in a final judgment of March 16, 2009 for a crime of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The then Court of First Instance and Instruction number 5 imposed on him after a quick trial a fine of 8 euros per day for 4 months and the withdrawal of his driver's license for 8 months. In addition, he had to perform work for the benefit of the community for 22 days.
Three crashes and two 'escapes'
According to the report of the Local Police of Tinajo, on Monday night of last week the agents received several alert calls even before Callero collided with the facade of that house on Tinguatón street. The first was at 8:15 p.m. in the afternoon, when a neighbor warned them that someone had "hit" her car, which was parked in front of the town's hardware store and had "fled without reporting the accident." The police were still heading to the scene when they received a second call, from a woman who told them how a car had hit a red van that was circulating, then had collided with her car, which was "perfectly parked," and then continued on its way.
The owner of that van was driving along Avenida de Los Volcanes when he "felt a strong blow from the rear" and saw that the "culprit was leaving the scene of the accident." This man stated before the judge that while he was driving "slowly" a van appeared behind him that "was going on the right," which made him think that he was going to park, but it was not so. According to him, he "overtook him on the right," hitting him from the rear and then "continued on his way." He was "cold with what had happened," he told the judge.
A third person, who had witnessed what happened, described the characteristics of the car to the agents and had also been able to write down the license plate. Then, the police received a third warning, that a car had crashed into a house on Tinguatón street. Upon arrival, they verified that it was "the same Opel Vivaro" to which the three witnesses had referred.
There, having "crashed into the house," the van had been "bounced about 25 meters," impacting with a third car that was parked. In addition, at that moment there was a pedestrian walking along the sidewalk, who fortunately was not run over. "Upon seeing the vehicle out of control skidding along the road and in his direction," this man "threw himself towards an adjacent farm, since this van was coming at him." In that jump to avoid being run over, this man suffered "erosions on his hands," the Police maintains, although when the ambulance arrived he indicated that he did not need medical assistance. In fact, he is the only one of those affected who stated before the judge that he was not claiming damages from Ayoze Callero.
