Guillaume Levarlet has been indicted for involuntary manslaughter over the death of former pro Arnaud Coyot (pictured), early Sunday morning, le Parisien reports. The 28-year-old Cofidis rider was at the wheel of the car, with Coyot in the front passenger seat and AG2R La Mondiale’s Sébastien Minard in the back, when it left the road and crashed.
The three men had been at Le Bugatti, a nightclub in Beauvais - Coyot and Levarlet’s hometown - in the Oise department of Picardy, which they left at 6.30am in Levarlet’s Citroen Xsara car. The car missed a 90 degree bend, going straight on, on a dirt road, before hitting a metal barrier with its passenger side.
Levarlet and Minard escaped with only bruising, but Coyot suffered serious head injuries, and sadly died in hospital, in nearby Amiens, that afternoon.
Le Parisien quotes a judicial source that says that screening had cleared Levarlet from the use of drugs, but his “alcoholic state was very slightly over the legal limit” for driving. The 28-year-old is said to be “in shock,” but his having consumed alcohol - even if only just more than the legal limit - has been regarded as an aggravating circumstance, and led to him being indicted for involuntary homicide.
Since Levarlet has no previous criminal record, he could incur a sentence of up to seven years in prison, as well as a maximum €100,000 fine.
Coyot’s funeral will be held in Ons-en-Bray, Oise, at 2pm on Friday.