Lionel Messi’s brother was arrested for the second time in just over three months last night after a car crash in an Argentinian holiday resort.
Matias Messi, 35, was held after the driver he hit called police to claim he had been threatened with a weapon.
Javier Rivera, 24, said the Barcelona star’s elder sibling fled the scene after taking the gun out of his car boot following a struggle.
He also told Argentinian media Matias deliberately damaged his vehicle before driving off and being stopped by police after a crash.
Lionel Messi’s brother Matias was arrested for the second time in just over three months after a car crash in an Argentinian holiday resort. From left: Matias, Rodrigo and Lionel Messi
Rivera’s lawyer backed up his story.
Messi’s brother was on Sunday being held at a police station in Pinamar , near the scene of the accident in the Atlantic city of Villa Gesell around 7pm on Saturday.
Police say no gun was found in the Land Rover Matias was driving, although local reports said two cannabis cigarettes had been found in the vehicle.
The other driver told local media Matias had become aggressive after hitting his car from behind.
Mr Rivera, speaking shortly after the accident, said: ‘I parked up to see why he had hit me and when I got out saw the other person who immediately began to insult me and then assaulted me and ripped my T-shirt.
‘Then he began to threaten me and went back to his car and got out a weapon.
‘After the struggle he retuned to his vehicle and tried to run me over.
‘He escaped from the police twice before he was caught.’
His lawyer Atilio Roncoroni, who reported Messi’s brother for aggravated criminal threats, added: ‘My client was hit from behind as he was leaving Villa Gesell to head to Pinamar where he works.
‘He said the other man was absolutely livid and began to insult him despite having been the one who had hit him from behind.
‘He said there was a struggle and the other man told him, ‘Don’t you know who I am!’ before going back to the car and getting out something from the boot.
‘My client says he had a gun in his hand when he came back, like one of the pistols the police use, and there was another struggle.
‘Witnesses say they separated and the other man got back in his vehicle and tried to hit my client who was behind his car and dodged him.
Matias Messi’s brother Lionel (pictured) scored the winning goal for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league on Sunday
‘He got a few feet up the road and turned back round again and when he was about to hit my client’s vehicle he swerved but damaged the side of his car and left.’
Insisting Messi’s brother had only been held half an hour later after a police chase, he said: ‘I know Matias Messi is in the police station and I don’t know what decision prosecutors will take but my client is going to report him for threats with a firearm and wounding.’
The footballer’s brother is still under investigation following the discovery of a gun on board a blood-stained boat he claims he had an accident on at the end of November on the Parana River near Rosario.
He was arrested in hospital on December 1 after police and prosecutors spent nearly 24 hours trying to find him to question him about the incident after the loaded Bersa 380 pistol was found during a police search.
The Messi family insisted afterwards Matias sustained injuries including a broken jaw and serious facial wounds after hitting a sandbank.
Matias’ lawyer Ignacio Carbone suggested at the time the gun found on the boat could have been planted by police.
In 2016 Leo’s wayward sibling was instructed to teach football as part of a probation order after being caught with a gun in his car.
Matias is one of Leo’s two brothers. Rodrigo is also older than the Barcelona star and they have a younger sister called Marisol.