A prosecutor from Mariupol was dismissed for drunk driving

A prosecutor from Mariupol was dismissed for drunk driving

Igor Lapin, prosecutor of the Nikolske department of the Mariupol City Court Prosecutor’s Office of Donetsk region, was dismissed for drunk driving.

The editorial staff of 368.media learned this from a decision of the Disciplinary Chamber.

The man was appointed to the position in December 2021. Last year since October he has been mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the summer the prosecutor was in Lviv region.

Patrol officers stopped Lapin in the Rivne-Ruska united territorial community area while he was driving a SsangYong Rexton. As they approached the vehicle, the driver began maneuvering to exit the roadside and move in the same direction as their patrol car. Previously, the vehicle had been maneuvering along the roadway from one side to the other.

The police had to turn on warning lights and sirens. The patrols concluded that the prosecutor had been drinking. It also aroused suspicion that the car with Kharkiv registration, in wartime, was located in a remote settlement near the border with the Republic of Poland.

At the officer’s request to provide the vehicle’s technical passport, driver’s license, and insurance policy, Lapin initially handed over the service ID. During the conversation with Lapin, the police found that he was visibly intoxicated, specifically a smell of alcohol emanated from his mouth, his eyes were noticeably reddened, his fingers trembled, and his gait was unstable.

The prosecutor stated that he had not consumed alcoholic beverages. When offered to take a test for intoxication at the place of the stop using the device “Alcotest Drager,” Lapin I.O. refused. He also refused to undergo a sobriety check at a medical facility. This was recorded by witnesses and video recorders.

Lapin refused to sign the protocol under Article 130 of the Administrative Code, and also refused to sign the issuance of a temporary permit to operate a vehicle. Zhoviysk district court and the appellate instance found the prosecutor guilty.

In the Disciplinary Chamber, it was decided that by his behavior, and by presenting to a police officer a service badge of the Donetsk region prosecutor’s office on his own initiative, Lapin grossly violated professional ethics standards. He was dismissed from his position.