"I didn't even pay attention to the victim": what did the witnesses in the court tell in the case of Efremov

On Friday, August 7, in the Presnensky Court of Moscow, the third hearing on the merits of the criminal case on the fatal traffic accident on the Garden Ring was held. The accused in the case is actor Mikhail Efremov.

During the meeting, witnesses of the accident were interviewed. One of them was Roman Shramko, who was present at the meeting via videoconference from the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Simferopol. According to Shramko, the car he was in was cut off by Efremov's jeep on the Garden Ring.

“The jeep jumped out in front of us, it skidded, we braked, honked it, he braked sharply. Soon he broke loose and pulled away from us. We saw him crash into the car of the victim Sergei ... I saw how several people pulled out the Jeep Grand Cherokee driver, helped him to leave the car, checked if there was anyone else in the car. It turned out that it was Efremov. It seems to me that there was no one else in the car, ”RIA Novosti quotes an eyewitness to the incident.

Shramko stressed that Efremov's intoxication at that time seemed obvious to those around him.

“The man almost killed me. If he drove into us, Vlad (another witness in the case - RT ) and I would not be there. I told him personally: “Like, you almost killed us, you almost shocked us,” added the witness.

Eyewitnesses who spoke in court said that after the incident, Efremov did not try to help the victim, Sergei Zakharov, but was interested in the condition of his car.

“Immediately after the collision, Efremov was pulled out from behind the wheel, he began to examine his car. It seemed to me that he was sorry for the car. He didn’t even pay attention to the victim, it outraged me, ”one of the witnesses explained.

The next hearing on the case is scheduled for August 11. “The appearance of the victims is obligatory, the defendant must be ready to testify,” said Elena Abramova, judge of the Presnensky Court of Moscow.

Road accident on Sadovy

Recall that an accident involving Mikhail Efremov occurred on the evening of June 8, 2020 at the Garden Ring in Moscow. According to the investigation, the artist drove a Jeep Grand Cherokee into the oncoming lane and crashed into a Lada van. His driver, 57-year-old courier of the online store Sergei Zakharov, died from his injuries in the hospital.

Currently, Mikhail Efremov is under house arrest. He faces up to 12 years in prison.

Hearings on the merits began in the Presnensky Court of Moscow on Wednesday, August 5. During the meeting, the prosecution announced the materials of the case, according to which Efremov at the time of the accident was in a state of alcoholic intoxication (1.23 ppm of ethanol was found in the artist's blood, which corresponds to severe intoxication). Also in the blood of Efremov found traces of drugs: cocaine and marijuana.

DNA examination confirmed that at the time of the accident Mikhail Efremov was driving the jeep: sweat and bacterial cells belonging to the artist were found on the deployed airbags. In addition, “microscopic” traces of tetrahydrocannabinol, a substance that is part of hashish and hash oil, were found in Efremov's car.

According to the prosecutor's office, at the time of the accident, Yefremov's car exceeded the established speed limit by 25 km and was moving at a speed of 85 km / h.

The actor does not admit his guilt.

“I understand the charge brought against me. How can I admit my guilt when I don't remember anything? " - he said during the meeting on August 5.

At the meeting on August 6, the court showed video evidence of the case. The videos provided by the witnesses show how Efremov, right after the accident, walks around Sergey Zakharov's car and his car and talks with a traffic police officer.

The video shows how the actor tells the traffic police officer that he was driving at the time of the accident, and also admits his guilt. When asked what he used before the trip, the actor replies: "That's it!"

In the courtroom, the lawyer of the injured party, Alexander Dobrovinsky, asked Efremov if he recognized himself on these recordings.

"With difficulties. It's premature to say. Mr. Hyde, ”the artist replied.

Incidents involving Mikhail Efremov

Incidents involving Mikhail Efremov have already become the property of the media more than once. In 1997, the newspaper "Kommersant" reported that the artist had a fight at the artistic council of the Moscow Art Theater. According to those present, a drunken Efremov hit Alexei Komarov, the deputy director for financial affairs. The father of the actor, the main director of the Moscow Art Theater Oleg Efremov, as well as the director of the theater Vyacheslav Efimov, fired the troublemaker on the same day.

Mikhail Efremov has repeatedly made fights during the Kinotavr festival. In 2007, the actor and his friend Alexander Bashirov, without an invitation, took to the stage of the restaurant, where the group "Tokyo" performed. After the technical service turned off the microphone (since the artists were drunk and swearing), Efremov pushed Bashirov, and he fell off the stage.

In 2016, Efremov came to the festival banquet drunk, dressed in a bathrobe, and behaved inappropriately - the security and the police had to be involved in solving the problem.

In March 2018, due to the behavior of Mikhail Efremov with alcohol, a performance at the Samara Opera and Ballet Theater was ruined: the troupe of the Sovremennik Theater brought the production “Don't Become a Stranger”, in which the artist played the main role. According to the audience, Efremov appeared on stage drunk, forgot the text, and when the audience was asked to speak louder, he answered them with obscenities. Many left the hall during the intermission and even during the performance. However, later, the actor said that the audience "did not catch up a little" - they did not understand the essence of the "black English comedy".

In August 2019, Mikhail Efremov appeared drunk at an unauthorized rally in the center of Moscow. He took a megaphone from law enforcement officers and urged them to disperse. In the video, which was at the disposal of the media, the artist admitted that he was drunk. Later, Efremov denied that he came to the uncoordinated action.

In March 2020, Mikhail Efremov was detained at the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg. The artist was not allowed on the plane to Riga, because he was drunk. Then Efremov made a scandal.