Ford Refuses to Comply with 'Stop' Order, Rolls into Forest: 2 Dead and Police Assaulted

Yesterday, on August 14, a tragic incident occurred in the Lori region. According to shamshyan.com, at around 21:00, the emergency situation ministry's crisis management center received a report that a vehicle had rolled into the forest along the Martz-Lorut inter-village road. Before the emergency rescue service's 39th fire-rescue squad arrived at the scene, two bodies were transported to the Alaverdi medical center.

The photojournalist reports that preliminary information suggests that a Ford Transit without a license plate, loaded with thick logs, was passing through the Martz-Lorut intercommunity road when police officers assigned to a checkpoint noticed it exiting the forest. They suspected that the vehicle might be loaded with wood, leading them to stop the unlicensed Ford. However, the driver did not comply with the police 'stop' command and accelerated to flee the police's line of sight.

The police began to pursue the vehicle, using lights and sirens, and repeatedly instructed the driver via loudspeaker to halt. After several kilometers, the Ford disappeared from the police’s view, and they began searching for the suspicious vehicle. Upon reaching the administrative area of Lorut, they noticed that the vehicle had veered off the roadway and crashed into a tree in the forest.

At the scene, two male bodies were discovered. Before operational teams arrived, a group of individuals attacked the police officers with stones and wooden objects, injuring them. They suspected that if the police had not pursued the Ford Transit, the accident would not have occurred. Consequently, they pushed the police’s UAZ vehicle into the forest, turning it into a heap of scrap metal.

About 1.5-2 kilometers away, the police's VAZ 2106 vehicle, responding to the scene, was also attacked, and the officers inside were beaten. The attackers then smashed the vehicle with stones and set it on fire. Alaverdi firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze, but the vehicle turned to ashes.

Several citizens present at the scene, who refused to speak on camera, claimed there were also injured individuals who were transported to the Alaverdi medical center. Among those arriving at the scene were the first deputy chief of police, Colonel Aram Hovhannisyan, and numerous officers from the main department of criminal police led by the head of department Vardan Vardanyan.

Strengthened police service is being conducted not only in Alaverdi but also in the village of Lorut due to suspicions that illegal logging has occurred and police legal orders were disregarded, especially since the relatives of the deceased are from that village. A large number of investigators from the Lori regional investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, led by the head Sahak Mkrtchyan and two deputies, have also arrived at the scene. Forensic experts from the Lori regional police also worked at the location.

The second officers' company of the traffic police is conducting enhanced service in the area under the command of Arsen Mardoyan, along with squad commanders Hayk Davtyan and Arman Suqiasyan. Additionally, several investigative groups from the Lori regional police's headquarters, overseen by Deputy Chief Lyudvig Ghanylyan, have taken control of several residents' homes, acknowledging the risk of further assaults.

A criminal case has been initiated in the Lori regional investigative department under several articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia. Police and investigative divisions are taking necessary operational-investigative and investigative actions to clarify the circumstances of the incident, the identity of the deceased from the self-accident, and the participants in the altercation.

As stated by the press secretary of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, Vardan Tadevosyan, based on the decision of the head of the Lori regional investigative department, a investigative group was established, and a criminal case was opened in accordance with several provisions of the Criminal Code.