He ran over a person and took “sick leave”: A police officer from Kam'yanske avoided suspension and arrest (VIDEO)
The police officer who ran over a person continues to serve—he is currently “on sick leave.” Serhiy Moroz, acting chief of the National Police’s Main Directorate in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, made this statement during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC). The TSC urgently summoned the entire leadership of the regional and district police to explain what—and, most importantly, why—happened in Kamyanske, where a video of a police vehicle brutally running over a civilian went viral across the country.
The incident occurred on September 1. The man lay down on the roadway directly in front of a police Renault Duster, attempting to block the car’s departure and prevent the mobilization of his acquaintance, according to Telegram channels. However, the patrol officer behind the wheel stepped on the gas and simply ran over the man.
As a result, 45-year-old local resident Volodymyr Karpenko ended up in a hospital bed with a closed head injury, a concussion, three broken ribs, a pneumothorax, as well as severe injuries to his spine and both legs. The man faces a high risk of becoming disabled.
The driver responsible for the accident, Police Lieutenant Shvets, as it turned out during the TSK hearing, is also... “on sick leave.” Perhaps due to stress or a nervous breakdown caused by what he did. But police leadership openly told lawmakers that “there are no grounds for suspending the patrol officer from duty.”
“Blind Spot” and Zero Arrested Cops
Presumably, what interested the TSK members most was the answer to the main question: how could a police officer run over a person?
Law enforcement officials explained that Patrol Officer Shvets was “distracted” by another pedestrian who was knocking on the car window and “objectively had no way” of seeing the man behind the car, since he was allegedly in a “blind spot.”
“The police officer was distracted by another citizen who ran up to the car and began knocking on the window. At that moment, Mr. Karpenko lay down directly in the path of the rear wheel. Because he was in the blind spot, the officer did not notice him, resulting in the collision.”
At the same time, another important detail came to light: the Renault Duster patrol car was not equipped with a standard rearview camera or a dashcam at all. The National Police calmly admitted that Ministry of Internal Affairs Order No. 106 requires only that officers wear body cameras, while dashcams are installed in patrol cars only if funded by local communities.
“According to Ministry of Internal Affairs Order No. 106, the use of personal body cameras by police officers is mandatory. This order does not regulate the equipping of police vehicles with dashcams—this is carried out subject to technical feasibility and with the cooperation of local authorities.”
Despite the man’s serious injuries, as of now, the police have not detained anyone under Article 208 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
An Arrest “Out of the Blue”
The reason given for the conflict at the hearing sounded strange, to say the least. According to the police, a patrol spotted a man on the street who was “acting suspiciously and trying to hide.”They caught up with him, and he began calling out to bystanders for help, prompting the officers to call for backup and shove the detainee into another patrol car.
The “suspicious” passerby who had caused all this commotion turned out to be soldier Petro Andrienko. During testimony before the Temporary Investigation Commission, the police officers ultimately acknowledged—or perhaps admitted—that the soldier was not on the wanted list, had not committed any civil or military offenses, and had not violated any laws at all. He was simply released.
“Citizen Andrienko is a member of the military. At the time of the check, he was not wanted, had not deserted his military unit, and had not committed any offenses. After his identity was verified, he was released.”
In other words, the scandalous hit-and-run, the injury to a person, and the mass brawl occurred because the cops “simply thought so,” while the detained citizen turned out to be completely innocent in the eyes of the law.
Are they trying to “sweep the case under the rug” with money?
The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case under Article 286 of the Criminal Code (violation of traffic safety rules), while the local police in Kamyanske have opened a case under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (resisting police) against the outraged citizens, while those responsible for the traffic accident are already looking for ways to settle the matter.
When asked by members of parliament whether the victim, Karpenko, had filed a complaint, the police responded cautiously: “At present, lawyers representing both the injured party and the police are in discussions regarding compensation for the damages incurred and reimbursement of medical expenses.”
Members of the Temporary Investigation Commission called on the leadership of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Police to immediately suspend Lieutenant Shvets from duty until the completion of the internal investigation, in order to prevent similar tragedies on the city’s streets. The investigation into the circumstances of the deadly incident is currently ongoing.
