Torre del Greco - Behind bars in Poggioreale prison since yesterday afternoon, Tommaso Severino, 28, a resident of Ercolano, has been thinking over and over what happened last night.
A night of celebration turned tragic. It was just after 2 a.m. on Saturday, November 1st, when an SUV speeding on Viale Europa struck a State Police patrol car head-on.
Inside were two officers from the local police station: Aniello Scarpati, 47, who died instantly, and his colleague Ciro Cozzolino, 38, who was barely freed from the wreckage and rushed to the Ospedale del Mare in Naples.
According to initial reports, the vehicle, carrying six people—including three minors—was traveling toward the Litoranea highway when, on a bend, it crossed into the oncoming lane, hitting the patrol car. The patrol car then overturned over the guardrail and fell into a ditch near the Santa Maria la Bruna train station.
The investigations and the profile of the suspect
He will face charges of aggravated vehicular homicide due to the use of narcotics and psychotropic substances, as well as failure to render aid. The preliminary hearing is expected to take place tomorrow morning.
Immediately after the crash, four of the six occupants of the SUV went to Maresca Hospital for treatment.
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Two of the adult passengers, aged 40 and 46, both originally from Cercola and resident in Portici, also remain under investigation for failure to provide assistance.
The pain of the body and of the family
The entire Italian State Police is in mourning. Police Chief Vittorio Pisani traveled to Torre del Greco to visit Officer Cozzolino, whose condition remains guarded but is slowly improving after a delicate pelvic operation. Pisani, along with Naples Police Chief Maurizio Agricola and the station manager Antonella Palumbo, then visited Scarpati's family in Ercolano, conveying the institution's condolences and those of his colleagues.
Meanwhile, a touching farewell from Sharon, the fallen officer's young daughter, arrived on social media. She remembered her father with a Dante-esque passage and words of love and pride: a message that touched the hearts of colleagues and citizens alike.
"He loves very little who can still express in words how much he loves," he wrote, quoting Dante Alighieri. "And Dad, I never had the words to express how much I loved you. Honor, respect, head held high. You gave me the name of a flower, and now you have become my flower. And if it is God's will, I will follow in your heroic footsteps with pride. Goodbye, my infinite love."
Waiting for the judge's decision
While investigators continue their technical examination of the vehicles and the marks on the asphalt, the victims' families are demanding justice. The case is now in the hands of the Torre Annunziata Prosecutor's Office, which will evaluate the possibility of extending the investigation to the other passengers.
Tomorrow, the preliminary hearing will mark the first formal step in a case that has torn the community apart: a police officer killed in the line of duty, a fellow officer injured, and a 28-year-old who will have to explain to the judge how an evening with friends turned into a tragedy with no return.
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