Road Rage Victim Dies in Hospital

The suspect believed to be responsible for stabbing a 31-year-old man in a road rage incident at the weekend was remanded in custody by the courts on Thursday.

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The 31-year-old victim, Daniel F.C. from Alicante, died on Saturday at the Hospital La Fe after six days in an induced coma after an altercation during a traffic discussion in the service area of ​​the A-7 in Benifaió.

The aggressor fled with his vehicle on the motorway in the direction of Albacete, but was arrested two hours later in Algemesí by a traffic patrol of the Guardia Civil. The detainee, who has several criminal records, confessed to stabbing his victim during the incident.

The violent events occurred around 10 am on June 4, when the two drivers stopped their vehicles next to a gas station, got out of the cars and discussed why the offender had made several manoeuvres, such as braking and lane changes, which bothered the young man when they were driving on the A-7.

Daniel, who was accompanied by his girlfriend, pushed the other man without realising that he was holding a small knife. After an argument, the 55-year-old perpetrator slashed a knife in the left side of the young man when he placed his hands on his chest to push him away.

The deadly aggression was recorded by a video camera at the gas station. The victim did not realise at the time that he had been stabbed. The prick with the knife was very fast and Daniel hardly felt any pain. A nephew of the armed individual also got out off the vehicle to confront the young man, although this second man did not participate in the aggression. Daniel’s girlfriend got out of the car then to try to calm things down, and the four people calmed down after a few moments of great tension and nervousness with insults and serious threats.

The two men hurriedly climbed into a Class A Mercedes and continued on the A-7 towards Albacete. The couple also went to their vehicle to leave, and it was at that precise moment when Daniel discovered that he had a knife wound on his left side. The knife had pierced the heart of the young man, who was still walking without being aware of the fatal injury he had received.

When he entered the gas station to ask for help, Daniel lost consciousness and fell into the arms of his girlfriend. The victim was bleeding. The girl asked an employee at the service station to call 112. As Daniel’s life hung by a thread, a patrol of the Local Police of Benifaió responded to the emergency call and proceeded urgently to the scene.

After just a few minutes, the first responders arrived at the service station. After evaluating the situation and the serious state of the man, the police officers decided to get the victim into their patrol car to urgently take him to the nearest medical centre.

Shortly after, the Guardia Civil arrived and took charge of the investigation, launching an urgent operation to locate and arrest the perpetrator.

Whilst a paramedic ambulance took over the care of the victim, transferring him to the La Fe Hospital in Valencia, the description of the vehicle and suspect were disseminated to all the patrols that they were on duty in the province of Valencia.

The search operation paid off as around 12 o’clock, just 2 hours after the incident, a Guardia Civil traffic patrol spotted the suspect vehicle leaving the A-7 motorway at Algemesí, and proceeded to stop the car. The officers ordered the two men to get out of the vehicle whilst they searched and identified them. The prime suspect cooperated with the officers and acknowledged that he had stabbed the young man when he pushed him after the traffic discussions.

The officers found the bloodied knife in the pocket of the man’s pants, so they detained the individual for a crime of injuries and then they transferred him to the Guardia Civil barracks in Almussafes, where he was detained until the next day, when the judge ordered the assailant to be imprisoned when they informed him of the serious condition of the victim.

After six days in an induced coma, Daniel died at the Hospital, despite medical efforts. The man imprisoned as alleged perpetrator was informed that he will be prosecuted for a crime of homicide. The court of Carlet (Valencia) ordered this detention in prison on Thursday.