Trigger-happy drivers face criminal charges
Two motorists who traded gunshots during a fight over who should have priority at a busy Thessaloniki junction two years ago are both to be tried for attempted murder and firearms offenses, a council of judges has decided. In a ruling made public yesterday, the Thessaloniki council of misdemeanor court judges found that Vassilis Leontakis, 45, and Georgian national Stiliko Kurtziev, 31, should face criminal charges over the July 2001 brawl – in which Kurtziev was shot in the arm. The two had exchanged heated words on Stratou Avenue in Stavroupolis, on the city’s northern outskirts, after which Kurtziev allegedly got out and started bashing Leontakis’s car with his fist, while waving a handgun. The Georgian allegedly shot at Leontakis, but missed. Leontakis then grappled with Kurtziev, wrested the gun from him and fired three shots – one of which hit him in the arm.
