A portrait of rich privilege in Brazil: A Porsche and a deadly attack after a poker game

It was a violent car crash on one of the multi-lane avenues that crisscross São Paulo, Brazil’s economic capital. A speeding Porsche 911 Carrera GTS rammed into a humble Renault Sandero. The driver of the car, Ornaldo da Silva Viana, 52, who made his living as an Uber driver, went into cardiorespiratory arrest and died shortly after in the hospital. The other driver was Fernando Sastre de Andrade Filho, a 24-year-old businessman who had gone out partying in his father’s sports car and was returning home with a friend. The controversy over the event, which occurred on March 31, is still ongoing because it offers a portrait of the privilege enjoyed by the rich (and white people) in a country as unequal as Brazil. For a third time, police have requested that Sastre — who is accused of intentional homicide and hit-and-run — be remanded in custody, according to the Brazilian press.

In a country mired in racism and inequality, the businessman’s white (and rich) privilege was evident from the very first moments after the crash, which took place 2 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

The mother of the Porsche driver showed up at the scene of the accident, met her son, and convinced the two military police officers present that she needed to take him to the hospital for an X-ray. So, against all protocol in those circumstances, the police allowed the main suspect to leave the crime scene without first taking a breathalyzer test. Although with some reluctance — as the recordings from their body cameras show — the police trusted the mother.

When the officers showed up at the hospital where Sastre Filho was supposed to have been taken by his mother, neither of them were there. They went to their apartment, but they weren’t there either. It took almost two days for the accused to appear at a police station.

Little by little, other details came to light that fueled indignation in Brazil, a country where the super-rich are a separate breed, and where 1.5 million people make a living or earn extra money by working for a ride-hailing app like Uber. The situation was further aggravated by the police’s attitude on the night of the crash. It turned out that the young construction businessman who destroyed his father’s bright blue car had lost his driving license for various violations, including fines for speeding. When he hit the Uber driver that morning, he had only recovered his license 12 days earlier.

The passenger in the Porsche, a friend of Sastre Filho, was seriously injured. He had four broken ribs and his spleen had to be removed. When he recovered enough to testify to the police, he told investigators that the driver of the sports car had been drinking that night. Both they had spent the evening together with their respective partners, with the night ending in some poker games and a fight between the businessman and his girlfriend, who did not consider him fit to get behind the wheel.

Viana, who was working as an Uber driver that night, had the bad luck to cross his path. A father of three children, Viana was married and a religious man: a relatable figure to the majority of Brazilians who work hard, long days in order to support their families. “God is going to bless our work tonight,” Viana tells his family in a video they released after his death.

To make matters worse, two street surveillance cameras at the scene were not working that morning. According to the police, the cameras were being updated with new technology. Although the man accused of homicide told the police that he was going “a little above” the 18 miles per hour speed limit, the police investigation found that Sastre was going much faster: the Porsche was flying at more than 93 miles per hour. The collision was brutally violent. The rear part of the Renault Sandero was completely smashed in.

In view of his evasion and the circumstances of the accident, police have requested for the third time that Sastre Filho be remanded in custody, his passport seized and his driver’s license suspended. The case is under seal, but there have been constant leaks of information. The second time the police requested Sastre Filho be remanded into custody, the judge allowed him to avoid jail by paying half a million reais ($97,000) in bail.

The case is reminiscent of another example of rich privilege. Businessman Eike Batista was at the height of success in 2012, when his 22-year-old son, Thor, ran over and killed a cyclist on a mountain road in Rio de Janeiro. A few months earlier, the police had confiscated a Ferrari from him after he was caught driving it without a front license plate. The 22-year-old was also known for spending a lot of money in Rio de Janeiro’s nightlife. Convicted in the first trial, he was later acquitted and his family compensated the victim’s family. Four months later, Thor was back behind the wheel.

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