Man charged for running down refugee boy

A 25-year-old man from southern Sweden has been formally charged with reckless driving after running down a refugee boy with his pickup truck.

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The boy, who was walking with a group of five people, was on his way to play pool at a recreation centre in Höör, southern Sweden, wrote the Skånskan newspaper.

A 25-year-old who saw the group drove directly toward them in his vehicle, knocking the boy backwards and damaging his leg.

The boy, who is now 18, told police later that he thought he would be hit again by the car and fearing for his life, he hid behind a container.

According to the paper, the boy comes from a country that is at war and the incident left him “paralyzed with fear”.

In a photo line-up at police headquarters, the victim allegedly identified the attacker immediately and without doubt.

The man denies the charges.

The incident, which occurred in late July last year, took place in a school’s parking lot. It is alleged that the man drove his car off the road and along a path in the grass, chasing the group of boys, wrote Skånskan.

It has come to light that the charged man has been in several conflicts with youth with foreign backgrounds before.

He told police of a previous incident in a park in the area where three “foreign boys” were yelling and shrieking, and how he told them off, which led to a “minor fight”, wrote the paper.

The 25-year-old claimed that they day after, the group of refugees kicked at the door of his car and jumped on the bonnet.

The 18-year-old, who claims the driver is racist, told police that he had never seen the 25-year-old before, but that he now thinks the man belongs in prison.

Witness accounts suggest it was clear that the man was driving at the boys with intent to hit them, and prosecutor Tommy Clevenhult has two witnesses who will testify in court, wrote the paper.