The hazard lights are still blinking when Álex Sola gives up on his car.
He leans into the front seat, rummages around for a bit, shuts the door and runs off down an empty street in Almería.
Someone in a flat above caught the whole thing on their phone.
The wrong way round a roundabout
According to early investigations, the 27-year-old UD Almería striker lost control of his high-powered BMW at around 7.20am on Sunday 4 October.
He reportedly went straight through a roundabout, ended up driving against the traffic and ploughed into at least three parked vehicles: a Volkswagen, then a Mini, then a van, which finally stopped him.
The footage shows what that did to his hatchback.
The front end is crumpled and one of the front wheels juts out at an angle no wheel should manage.
Sola wasn’t alone. He and two passengers all fled the scene.
Then, in a move that will baffle anyone who has ever watched a crime drama, the footballer reportedly returned to collect some belongings.
Three times over the limit
Police tracked him down and breathalysed him.
The test reportedly showed he was three times over the legal limit.
Officers held him for several hours before releasing him pending a fast-track trial over a possible drink-driving offence, Creatorzine reported.
A night out after a win he didn’t play in
The night before, Almería beat Burgos CF 2-1 in the Segunda División.
Sola didn’t feature. He reportedly went out to celebrate anyway.
The club has since opened disciplinary proceedings and suspended him from the squad for now.
Not a new name in Spanish football
Sola comes from San Sebastián and joined Almería from Granada CF in July.
Most of his career has played out in the second tier, but he has 64 La Liga appearances across spells at Real Sociedad, Alavés and Getafe.
Three months into a new contract is not, traditionally, when you want the club lawyers learning your name.
Why It Matters
Nobody from a newsroom shot this footage.
A neighbour did, from a window, at dawn, and the clip reached audiences across Europe before Almería had decided what to say.
For anyone with a public profile, creators included, the gap between something happening and the internet seeing it has shrunk to roughly the time it takes to press record.
A club statement doesn’t stand much chance against a forty-second video.
Footballers’ off-pitch trouble used to depend on a tabloid photographer being in the right place.
Now it depends on whether anyone nearby owns a phone, which is everyone.
What happens next sits with a Spanish court and Almería’s disciplinary panel.
The fast-track trial should move quickly. Whether his Almería career survives it is a slower question.
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