Judge drops traffic case against former Madrid Popular Party premier
Esperanza Aguirre hit a police scooter after a confrontation with officers last April
A judge on Tuesday dropped a traffic case against former Madrid regional premier Esperanza Aguirre after ruling that there was not enough evidence that she disobeyed a police officer following a hit-and-run incident last April.
Judge Carlos Valle said there were clear discrepancies between the accounts offered by the Madrid police officers and the Popular Party (PP) official, who has said she wants to run for city mayor later this year.
Both sides appeared in court last September to give their versions of events.
The incident began when officers tried to cite Aguirre for double-parking on a bus lane on Madrid’s main Gran Vía thoroughfare. After initially cooperating and handing over her papers to the officers, Aguirre said she felt she was being held longer than necessary, probably as a result of her celebrity status, and proceeded to hurriedly drive away, knocking down a parked police scooter.
Officers followed her to her residence in the Malasaña neighborhood, where a minor confrontation occurred.
The entire incident, which was caught on surveillance cameras, sparked a host of parodies on television.
