The remand of 50-year-old Spanish journalist Julio de LaGuardia was extended until September 27 on Tuesday during his appearance in Jerusalem District Court. The decision came 48 hours after he struck and killed an American hareidi-religious musician who was raised in Kiryat Motzkin and who was walking in Paris Square in the capital Sunday night.
After fleeing the scene, LaGuardia was found 90 minutes later by Jerusalem Police as he was parking his car in the Mount Scopus neighborhood of the capital.
Attorneys for the journalist told the Hebrew-language daily Yediot Acharonot that he was trying to escape from three bikers who had “attacked him, struck his vehicle and cursed him. He escaped the scene and heartbreakingly, during his escape, a man was hurt. Later he turned himself in to the police.”
An earlier court decision to release LaGuardia to house arrest was overruled by the District Court. Police appealed the decision when it was discovered the journalist was to spend the house arrest in Jerusalem at the home of the deputy Spanish consul.
Although local media and one foreign source reported LaGuardia’s breathalyzer test revealed an alcohol level three times the legal limit allowed for driving, the results of a blood test have yet to be released to media.
The case resumes Thursday.