Eduards Gabrjunas stopped his SUV just before he would've hit the Freedom Monument, claiming the flowers dissuaded him. The monument was not damaged. Photo used courtesy of the Riga Police Department.
RIGA — A drunken Latvian man disillusioned with the state of the country drove his car head-on at the capital’s iconic freedom monument on Thursday, braking only at the last moment.
Eduards Gabrjunas, 43, was drunk at the time when he went to ram the monument, but said he stopped because he saw flowers on the stairs and didn’t want to destroy them. Nobody was injured, nor was the monument damaged.
“I wanted to [private_supervisor]smash the Freedom Monument, but I saw the flowers and stopped. This is the only thing that stopped me,” Gabrjunas said in a statement to the press.
The professional builder with twenty years of work experience said he was now unable to feed his family and wanted to make a statement about the economic situation in Latvia at the moment. Police arrested the man immediately after the incident at 3:49 p.m.
Police are charging Gabrjunas for hooliganism for disturbing the peace and under the administrative act for driving drunk. He stands liable for two years jail and 9,000 lats (€12,800) in fines.
At the time of arrest, the man’s had a 1.7 promille alcohol reading (0.17 percent BAC). This offense alone carries a 500 lats (€706) penalty, 15 days of jail time and a two-year driver’s license revoking. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]smash the Freedom Monument, but I saw the flowers and stopped. This is the only thing that stopped me,” Gabrjunas said in a statement to the press.
The professional builder with twenty years of work experience said he was now unable to feed his family and wanted to make a statement about the economic situation in Latvia at the moment. Police arrested the man immediately after the incident at 3:49 p.m.
Police are charging Gabrjunas for hooliganism for disturbing the peace and under the administrative act for driving drunk. He stands liable for two years jail and 9,000 lats (€12,800) in fines.
At the time of arrest, the man’s had a 1.7 promille alcohol reading (0.17 percent BAC). This offense alone carries a 500 lats (€706) penalty, 15 days of jail time and a two-year driver’s license revoking. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]smash the Freedom Monument, but I saw the flowers and stopped. This is the only thing that stopped me,” Gabrjunas said in a statement to the press.
The professional builder with twenty years of work experience said he was now unable to feed his family and wanted to make a statement about the economic situation in Latvia at the moment. Police arrested the man immediately after the incident at 3:49 p.m.
Police are charging Gabrjunas for hooliganism for disturbing the peace and under the administrative act for driving drunk. He stands liable for two years jail and 9,000 lats (€12,800) in fines.
At the time of arrest, the man’s had a 1.7 promille alcohol reading (0.17 percent BAC). This offense alone carries a 500 lats (€706) penalty, 15 days of jail time and a two-year driver’s license revoking. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]smash the Freedom Monument, but I saw the flowers and stopped. This is the only thing that stopped me,” Gabrjunas said in a statement to the press.
The professional builder with twenty years of work experience said he was now unable to feed his family and wanted to make a statement about the economic situation in Latvia at the moment. Police arrested the man immediately after the incident at 3:49 p.m.
Police are charging Gabrjunas for hooliganism for disturbing the peach and under the administrative act for driving drunk. He stands liable for two years jail and 9,000 lats (€12,800) in fines.
At the time of arrest, the man’s had a 1.7 promille alcohol reading (0.17 percent BAC). This offense alone carries a 500 lats (€706) penalty, 15 days of jail time and a two-year driver’s license revoking. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]smash the Freedom Monument, but I saw the flowers and stopped. This is the only thing that stopped me,” Gabrjunas said in a statement to the press.
The professional builder with twenty years of work experience said he was now unable to feed his family and wanted to make a statement about the economic situation in Latvia at the moment. Police arrested the man immediately after the incident at 3:49 p.m.
Police are charging Gabrjunas for hooliganism for disturbing the peace and under the administrative act for driving drunk. He stands liable for two years jail and 9,000 lats (€12,800) in fines.
At the time of arrest, the man’s had a 1.7 promille alcohol reading (0.17 percent BAC). This offense alone carries a 500 lats (€706) penalty, 15 days of jail time and a two-year driver’s license revoking. [/private_subscription 1 year]
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