Polish driver remanded in custody after fatal hit-and-run in Zadroże claims life of 15-year-old

Incident on Kościelna Street

On the evening of Friday, 28 August 2026, fifteen-year-old Adam was struck by a motor vehicle along Kościelna Street in the village of Zadroże, located in Olkusz County. The teenager had traveled by bus from mathematics tutoring in Zielonki and was walking home ahead of starting classes at a secondary school in Skała. When he failed to arrive home shortly after 20:00, his parents began searching the local area. His father found the boy lying unconscious in a field on the roadside several hundred meters from their home. Emergency responders evaluated his condition as critical and called a Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter to fly him to a pediatric hospital in Kraków-Prokocim.

Investigation and suspect detention

Police officers in Małopolska launched an immediate search for the driver, initially examining whether the incident was a hit-and-run collision or an intentional assault. Investigators released surveillance images on Saturday afternoon showing a white passenger vehicle connected to the collision. Tips from local residents and acquaintances who identified the vehicle on police recordings guided officers to the suspect. Around midnight between 29 and 30 August 2026, police located the damaged car hidden in a shed on the property of the suspect's grandmother in Kraków County. Before 05:00 on Sunday morning, 30 August 2026, officers arrested twenty-six-year-old Olkusz County resident Konrad K. at the home of extended family.

Legal proceedings and charge revisions

During police questioning, Konrad K. admitted to being behind the wheel, hitting the teenager, and fleeing the scene. He told investigators that he was driving properly, did not see the pedestrian walking along the roadside, returned after several minutes to notify dispatchers, and then left the area. The suspect also consumed alcohol in the hours following the crash before his arrest. At 10:00 on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, a court hearing convened to evaluate a prosecution petition for pretrial detention, ultimately ordering Konrad K. held for three months. As the hearing was taking place, hospital medical staff informed prosecutors that the fifteen-year-old victim had succumbed to his injuries.

Spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Kraków Tomasz Waszczuk detailed the legal modification required following the victim's passing.

Certainly the prosecutor, after the court decision on temporary arrest, will have to question the suspect again and amend the charge, changing the description of the act, namely that he caused the death of the victim rather than severe bodily injury.

Community response in Zadroże

The village of Zadroże held multiple religious services and prayer vigils over the four days the teenager remained in hospital care. Following the announcement of his death on Tuesday morning, residents gathered at the collision site on Kościelna Street to place memorial candles and support the family. Prosecutors are preparing to re-question Konrad K. under the elevated charges, which carry heavier statutory prison sentences for causing a fatal accident, escaping the scene without providing assistance, and consuming alcohol between the crash and detention.