An employee of a car park in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been convicted by the Provincial Court for disobeying the orders of the local police in a “serious” risk situation that occurred in December 2020 when he refused to manually open the exit barrier, which was malfunctioning, causing a traffic jam inside.
According to the sentence, at that time the health of numerous users was put at risk due to the fumes accumulated from the concentration of cars inside the parking lot because the exit barrier was not working and the operator refused to open it manually as requested by the police.
The employee was charged with a serious crime of disobeying authority, and therefore the Criminal Court initially imposed a fine of 1,800 pounds, which has now been upheld.
The Events
On that day, two local police officers arrived at the parking lot, one of whom stated that he ordered the accused to raise the barrier so the stuck vehicles could exit, but the order was not followed.
Meanwhile, the other officer contacted the control centre, from where the operator was “systematically” referred to as the only one able to open the barrier manually, “as it seems logical,” the ruling states.
Eventually, when the risk situation ended, the accused “spontaneously” admitted that he had not cleared the exit because it went against the company’s internal rules.
The sentence considers the seriousness of the situation to be “amply” proven to the point that the “concerning” smell of combustion fumes was noticeable from the outside, leading to an “almost irresolvable” situation.
In the Midst of the Post-Pandemic
Even more serious given the inaction of the operator and that, according to the ruling, it could only be resolved with the decisive action of the officers, who witnessed how the traffic jam caused the expiry of the exit tickets held by drivers who couldn’t open the barrier.
The situation was further exacerbated as it occurred when the use of masks was mandatory due to the pandemic, and occupants were exiting the vehicles to breathe fresher air.
Finally, the police had to instruct the drivers to turn off their engines and even requested the presence of a fire brigade team to forcefully break the barrier.
The Court concludes that the order issued “included a necessary mandate whose compliance was easy, low-cost, and did not pose any personal risk to the operator or others.”
One of the officers assertively and without a doubt directly and clearly ordered the employee to clear the exit upon detecting a danger to the safety of the occupants of the stuck cars and the people beginning to exit them.
These users were distressed by the strong smell of exhaust fumes from the engines, so the officer warned the operator that failure to comply with orders could constitute a disobedience offence, as it did.
The accused argued that he could not lift the barrier because it was technically impossible for him to do so, a claim continuously refuted by other employees contacted via intercom.
