Brawl in Cerea, Verona: 18-year-old struck by bottle in critical condition
An 18-year-old is in neurosurgical intensive care after being struck on the head with a bottle during a mass brawl in Cerea. The suspected attacker, aged 19, turned himself in two days later.
Struck with bottle during brawl involving fifty young people: 18-year-old in coma in Verona
An 18-year-old boy is hospitalised in critical condition in the neurosurgical intensive care unit at Borgo Trento hospital in Verona, after being struck on the head with a bottle during a brawl that took place in the night between Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August in Cerea, in the Lower Verona area. This is reported by Google News IT — Crime (it) citing Corriere del Veneto.
The young man was initially taken to Legnago hospital, then transferred to Verona where he is kept alive with supportive therapies. His condition remains critical: in the coming hours a hospital medical commission may convene to establish any possibility of brain death.
The brawl at the car park on Via Mantova
According to initial reconstructions, around fifty young people gathered between 2 and 3 in the morning near the sandwich kiosk on Via Mantova, along the state road at the border between Cerea and Casaleone. For reasons still under investigation, a mass brawl broke out that ended in tragedy: the attacker grabbed a bottle and struck the victim on the head, causing him to fall unconscious.
The attacker turned himself in after two days
The suspected perpetrator, a 19-year-old student enrolled at an institute in Bovolone — both young men are second-generation Italian — turned himself in on 24 August at the carabinieri barracks in Cerea, two days after the incident. On Monday he contacted his lawyers and asked to surrender himself, without any attempt to flee. He is currently in Montorio prison.
Public prosecutor Stefano Bissaro has requested his detention; the validation hearing has not yet been scheduled. The current charge is attempted murder, but the charge may be elevated to unlawful killing in the coming hours, depending on how the victim's condition develops.
The defendant's lawyers met with their client in the visiting room at the Verona prison. According to reports, the 19-year-old appeared particularly shaken. The triggering cause of the violent act remains unknown even to his defence team.
Reactions from institutions
"It is tragic news that marks our community," said Cerea's mayor, Marco Franzoni. "This extremely serious incident marks a point of no return, because losing one's life over trivial motives — given that this appears to be what prompted the argument between the two young men — is truly absurd."
Forza Italia MP Paola Boscaini also expressed "deep sadness" at what occurred. "Events like this make you feel powerless," she stated in a note, "because unfortunately cases of violence and victims among young people continue to be numerous. One asks oneself what can be done, because repressive laws exist, yet evidently they are not enough. Just as it is not enough, the enormous social work carried out by associations, schools and parishes to involve many young people in recreational, cultural and sporting activities."
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)