A German trucker who is suspected of
running over and killing former cycling champion Davide
Rebellin, 51, in Vicenza on November 30 last year was arrested
in Germany on Saturday.
Wolfgang Rieke, 62, was arrested on a European arrest warrant
requested by the Vicenza public prosecutor's office and detained
in Münster jail.
According to the order of arrest, Rebellin's death "can be
attributed exclusively to a plurality of behavioural standards
on Rieke's part".
Rebellin was riding his bicycle when he was hit and run over by
the lorry near the motorway junction of Montebello Vicentino.
After the accident, Rieke got out of his cabin, went to see
Rebellin's body and then got back in and drove quickly away
before going on the run, police said, quoting
eye witness accounts.
The trucker was cited but was not placed under arrest because
the German criminal code does not envisage the crime of
vehicular homicide.
He had already been convicted in Italy, in 2001, for fleeing the
scene of an accident without offering assistance to those
involved.
Rebellin, from Verona, was best known in the cycling world for
his 2004 season, when he won a then unprecedented treble with
wins in the Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne and
Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
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