English teacher tourist crushed to death by drugged-up bulldozer driver on Italian beach as she picked up shell
Elisa Spadavecchia, 66, was fatally run over by the crazed motorist as she picked up seashells on a popular Italian beach.
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Suspect Lerry Gnoli, 54, has been accused of reversing the deadly vehicle straight over the holidaymaker as she bent down to pick up a shell.
Elisa was crushed to death almost instantly, cops say.
Witnesses say the bulldozer had no warning lights or audible reversing alerts as it ploughed into the retired teacher.
Gnoli had been working on the 15-tonne tracked bulldozer after a long evening out on the dunes at the Pinarella di Cervia beach on north-eastern Italy's Adriatic Coast.
He was quickly detained and taken in for questioning as police discovered he was high on cocaine at the time through routine tests.
Gnoli has now been charged with manslaughter and labour violations as it emerged he had been banned from driving in 2023.
Police enforced a road ban on the suspect after he was found to have killed an 83-year-old man in his car while also under the influence of cocaine.
Despite the driving restrictions, he was still allowed to operate a construction vehicle as long as he avoided public roads.
Gnoli was a part of the bulldozer team on the beach who was put in charge of flattening part of the area for redevelopment.
But horrified witnesses said he strayed off the planned construction site and stormed through the packed beach where Elisa was spending her holiday.
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