Emergency Incident in Kotayk Province: Gazelle Overturned, Driver Refused Sobriety Test and Then Fell Asleep

On June 16, a major car accident occurred in Kotayk Province. At around 15:20, 33-year-old Razmik Ghazaryan lost control of his GAZ-33021 vehicle with license plate 35 VZ 354 while driving towards Yerevan on the 39 km stretch of the Yerevan-Sevan highway. He collided with a barbecue grill placed within the permissible area of the road, then continued moving forward, struck a concrete barrier, and ended up overturned among the trees.

According to photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, fortunately, there were no injuries reported from the accident. The first to assist the driver were employees of a nearby barbecue restaurant; however, witnesses at the scene noted that the driver exhibited aggressive behavior not only toward those attempting to help him but also towards the operational officers from the Road Police who arrived promptly.

Shamshyan reports that when the investigator tried to check the driver's sobriety, he began to resist the police's legal requests, refusing to undergo a sobriety test. Consequently, an operational team from the Hrazdan division of the police was called to the scene, which subsequently took him to the Hrazdan police station, where he also created quite a turmoil before eventually falling asleep. With the assistance of citizens, the road police managed to upright the vehicle and, following the investigator's instructions, it was towed to the designated secure area of the Hrazdan police station.