The police of Vukovar-Srijem County confirmed on Thursday that prefect Damir Dekanic caused a road accident under the influence of alcohol, in which five people, including two children, were slightly injured. His HDZ party condemned this in the strongest terms, whereupon Dekanic resigned.

According to the police, he was driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.84 g/kg at around 21:25 on Wednesday and crashed into the rear of a car driven by a 29-year-old man who had an even higher blood alcohol level of 2.12 per mille and was not wearing a seatbelt.

As a result of the impact, the 29-year-old’s car was thrown forwards and crashed into a vehicle that was stopped in a line by its 30-year-old driver. This then continued to move and crashed into the rear of another vehicle, which was stopped at a traffic light by a 58-year-old driver.

The 30-year-old driver and three passengers in his car (a 31-year-old woman and two children) sustained minor injuries in the accident, as did the 29-year-old driver. They received medical treatment at the Vinkovci County General Hospital.

Dekanic had already been involved in another road accident two years ago

According to the police, both Dekanic and the 29-year-old driver had blood and urine samples taken at the hospital and were detained at a police station to sober up. Their driving licences and the cars they were driving were temporarily confiscated.

As soon as the results of the blood and urine tests are available, both men will be charged and banned from driving, police said.

Dekanic was involved in another road traffic accident two years ago, after which he spent a month in custody. He had also been driving drunk then, and the vehicle he was driving was a county service vehicle.

Dekanic was also charged with abuse of authority for allegedly manipulating witnesses and police to cover up the details of that accident. The trial has not yet begun.

Resignation due to “enormous pressures”

The ruling HDZ party condemned the behaviour of its member and stated that party leader Andrej Plenkovic had spoken to him and asked him to resign, which Dekanic did.

The HDZ “strongly condemns such irresponsible behaviour, which endangers the safety of other drivers and passengers on the road. In view of the repeated offences against traffic rules and drunk driving, the party chairman has asked Dekanic to resign from his position as prefect of Vukovar-Srijem County, which he will do today,” it says in a press release.

Dekanic said he believed that the accident was caused by another car, but he was resigning anyway because he “did not want to complicate the work of the county”.

“Due to the enormous pressure, I feel it a moral act to resign. I apologise to everyone I have hurt and to everyone who has supported me,” he said.

He thanked the government for its support of the county and concluded by saying, “That’s it from the former prefect. Goodbye.”