Security police involved after fatal crash on Östermalm – driver offers no explanation
Lotta Hellstrand, 57, was killed when a car travelling at high speed collided with the vehicle she was in on Östermalm. Security police are now being brought into the investigation.
Security police investigate fatal crash on Östermalm
In the early hours of Saturday, 12 September, a 20-year-old man drove into the car in which Lotta Hellstrand, 57, was travelling on Östermalm in Stockholm. The speed was extreme – a witness stated in a police interview that it was the fastest he had ever seen a car driven, according to TV4 Nyheterna.
The vehicle Hellstrand and her son were in was thrown into another car, which in turn crashed into several parked vehicles. In total, six cars were damaged. Lotta Hellstrand died as a result of the crash and her son was seriously injured.
The driver fled the scene on foot but was arrested during the morning hours. He is now remanded in custody on suspicion of gross negligence causing another's death, gross recklessness in traffic, and gross negligence causing bodily harm.
Despite this, police have yet to establish why the man drove as he did. Suspicions of alcohol or drug intoxication were not confirmed – he was completely sober at the time.
"We do not understand what happened. The incident is so strange and he has not been able to provide any good explanation for why he drove in this manner," said prosecutor Zilla Hirsch, who is leading the investigation, to TV4.
Hirsch described the driver as previously almost without a criminal record and as a responsible young man, which makes the incident even harder to understand.
Security police have now been brought into the investigation. Expressen reports that the prosecutor wants to rule out that this is anything other than what it initially appears to be.
"We want to rule out that this is anything other than what one initially might think," said Zilla Hirsch.
Expressen obtained the family's approval through IFK Lidingö Friidrott to publish the name and photograph of Lotta Hellstrand.
Source: Expressen