Police president says conditions of Janoušek arrest were highly irregular

Police President Petr Lessy has called the police response in arresting Roman Janoušek highly irregular and said mistakes were made. Based on a preliminary internal investigation he said he could not exclude the possibility that the officers involved may have been influenced in some way and said the matter would be turned over to the appropriate inspectorate. Mr Janoušek, a wealthy lobbyist, is believed to have intentionally run down a woman in his car while intoxicated, not long after damaging evidence of his connections to Prague City Hall emerged. Despite running away from the scene of the crime he was not handcuffed and was allowed to make telephone calls. He also avoided being taken to a drunk tank in spite of a high blood/alcohol level and was reportedly allowed to leave the police station a few hours later through a back door to avoid the media. The victim of the attack is in serious but stable condition in hospital.