Matias Messi, one of the elder brothers to Lionel Messi of Argentina and Barcelona FC, was arrested last weekend in Buenos Aires for his involvement in a car crash and threats of violence against the other driver.
Javier Rivera, 24, told reporters that the Barcelona star’s elder sibling fled the scene after taking the gun out of his car and making threats.
Rivera said Matias deliberately damaged his vehicle for reasons yet unknown.
Image shows the care driven by Matias Messi
“I parked up to see why he had hit me and when I got out saw the other person who immediately began to insult me and then assaulted me and ripped my T-shirt,” Rivera told police shortly after the incident, according to a report from Mail Online.
“Then he began to threaten me and went back to his car and got out a weapon…After the struggle he returned to his vehicle and tried to run me over and was already gone from the scene before his arrest.”
He continued, “He [Matias] escaped from the police twice before he was caught.”
Matias, who spent Saturday night in a police cell, said he left the scene out of fear for his safety after being attacked first.
According to a local news outlet Conclusion, the Supreme Court of Argentina have released Matias but the case is still pending. It’s the second time he has been arrested in the last 3 months.
Police said the 35-year-old was taken into custody for allegedly threatening a driver with a firearm after getting into a car accident. He was also accused of assaulting officers of the law after the incident.
A state prosecutor who spoke on the arrest affirmed that Matias resisted arrest after he was approached on account of the accident in the Argentinian holiday resort Villa Gesell on Saturday night.
Onlookers who witnessed the squabbles said Messi’s elder brother got into an intense argument with the other driver before pulling out a firearm. However, police claim they did not locate any weapons inside his truck.
Eduardo Elizarraga, the prosecutor handling Matias’ case, said the accused person is facing charges of threats aggravated by the commission of firearms, damages and injuries.
Speaking further on the incident, Elizarraga added that police did find a pipe that looked like a weapon in the car.
The court in Argentina ruled that in the following month, Matias must present himself for questioning to enable judges follow due process as required by the law for a conclusion to be reached. His next court appearance will therefore finalize on a closure of the process or stay of proceedings, among other options.
Image shows Lionel Messi (R) and his two elder brothers, Matias (L) and Rodrigo (C).
In November 2017, Matias made headlines after having an accident with his boat in the Parana River and he is still under investigation because a gun was found on the blood-stained boat.
Media reports confirm Matias suffered multiple injuries to his face and underwent surgery. He spent more than two months in a Rosario hospital after the crash.
In August 2017 he also crashed his Audi car into a truck carrying heavy goods but was lucky to have sustained no injuries
