Rio Civil Police opened an investigation to investigate the crushing of elderly Solange Therezinha de Almeida and Albuquerque Azevedo Marques, 89, in Icaraí, southern Niterói zone, on Thursday afternoon. Businesswoman Gabriela Castellani Pinto, 46, is the target of the investigation for suspicion of driving the vehicle even without a driving license. The elderly woman died at the scene after being struck by the car and suffering head trauma.
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Witnesses say Solange was in the crosswalk when she was hit. Videos posted on social networks show people outraged by the event, knocking on the window of Gabriela, who stopped on the side of the road until medical help arrived.
Gabriela Castellani Pinto is married to Luiz Carlos Gallo, current municipal secretary of Sports and Leisure of Niterói, who also has nine mandates as municipal councilor. On her Instagram account, Gabriela appears as the businesswoman of a beauty salon located on the same street as the accident, a few steps from the scene.
The accident occurred at the intersection of Rua Lopes Trovão and Rua Ator Paulo Gustavo, two of the busiest roads in Icaraí. Foot traffic in the area is already high, but increases during the month of December due to Christmas shopping. According to the Civil Police, the case is being investigated by the 77th DP (Icaraí) as aggravated homicide due to the driver’s lack of driving license and the fact that the victim was hit in the safety lane.
The investigation was carried out on scene and officers requested footage from security cameras in the area to help them investigate the incident. New efforts are underway to understand the full dynamics of the collision.
When contacted by the report, Niterói City Hall made no comment on the matter until the end of the article. GLOBO was unable to contact Gabriela Castellani’s defense.