The police officer who killed a 33-year-old man on March 26, with a shot from his service weapon during a road check in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), was indicted on Saturday April 2, for “willful violence resulting in death without intention to give it”, announced the parquet floor of Bobigny. He was placed under judicial control, in accordance with the requisitions of the prosecutor.
The victim, who had managed to restart at the wheel of his vehicle, had been found in the neighboring town of Sevran. She died a few hours later in the hospital. After the death of this father, violence took place for several consecutive nights in Sevran, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Tremblay-en-France. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this tragedy.
The police officer fired during a traffic check
The facts took place at midday, Saturday April 26, first in Aulnay-sous-Bois. The indicted was driving in an unmarked car with three other police officers from the city’s anti-crime squad. He got out alone to control the victim’s vehicle, while they were stuck in traffic jams at a red light, explained the prosecutor, relying on the testimonies of his three colleagues and video surveillance.
During his first hearing, the 32-year-old brigadier admitted to being the author of the shot. According to the prosecutor, he claimed “standing at the level of the driver’s window, raising his weapon and shouting: ‘Police!'” then “having tried several times to open the door which was locked”. He says he saw “the driver engage a gear and accelerate strongly”, continued the magistrate. Feeling “imbalance”the policeman told investigators “feeling in self-defense” and “to have fired for this reason”.
The scene lasted less than a minute, explains the prosecutor. On the spot, a 9 mm caliber holster was found. The bullet went through the victim’s body and seat back. The cop’s version “varied a lot”accuses Arié Alimi, one of the lawyers for the victim’s family, according to which “ithe first said it was an accidental shot”. This was claimed Release Thursday, without detailing his sources, but the prosecutor did not mention such statements. The lawyer also asserts that the accused “didn’t wear an armband a priori” and “was not therefore identifiable” as a police officer, another element mentioned by Release quoting “a source familiar with the matter”but not confirmed by the prosecutor.
The van, which had restarted, ended its race by hitting a parked vehicle several hundred meters further, in the neighboring town of Sevran. The driver, seriously injured in the left shoulder blade, died a few hours after being admitted to hospital. The autopsy confirmed that the shooting was the cause of his death.
SEVRAN – The police open fire on the driver of a stolen truck.
His vital prognosis is engaged, he was airlifted. pic.twitter.com/qmnd0DEkzX
— Clement Lanot (@ClementLanot) March 26, 2022
The van had been reported stolen
The victim, named Jean-Paul, was 33 years old. The van in which he was traveling at the time of the events had been declared stolen the same day at the Aulnay-sous-Bois police station, where a complaint had been filed and an investigation opened. “What I do know is that it was reported stolen and that doesn’t necessarily mean it was stolen”declared on franceinfo one of the lawyers of his family, Arié Alimi, explaining the facts by un dispute between the victim, a self-employed delivery driver and his employer, a parcel delivery service provider who owned the vehicle. According to him, the theft is therefore not characterized.
“There was a dispute between my client, self-employed, and his client who had not paid him. This is the reason why the van had been retained.”
Arie Alimi, lawyeron franceinfo
In the columns of Parisian, Sébastien Bastaraud, deputy mayor of Sevran, presents the victim as a “face” des Beaudottes, a district of the city where he was “very, very much appreciated”. He had been convicted for acts of “theft and receiving”, according to one of the family’s lawyers, Steeve Ruben, quoted by AFP. He had turned this page of his life when he met his companion, said another lawyer close to him, Philippe-Henry Honegger, who presents him in The Parisian like “a model of reintegration”.
The victim’s family filed a complaint
Jean-Paul’s family filed a complaint with a civil action for “voluntary homicide” on Tuesday, according to the document sent to the dean of the investigating judges of the Bobigny judicial court, which franceinfo was able to consult.
“The criminal offense of intentional homicide is characterized”, can we read in this complaint from the family, represented by lawyers Philippe-Henry Honegger, Steeve Ruben and Arié Alimi. They believe that the police officer, trained in the use of firearms, “couldn’t legitimately ignore lethality” of his shot. A video of the scene filmed by a witness was transmitted with the complaint.
“He had the possibility of aiming at the vehicle in order to stop it [et] was perfectly aware that a shot in the direction of the upper body (…) leads to death.”
The victim’s familyin his complaint
One of the family’s lawyers, Philippe-Henry Honegger, launched a call for witnesses on Tuesday to collect elements that could corroborate or invalidate the version delivered by the police.
The policeman was charged
The police officer who killed the driver of the van was taken into custody on Wednesday. First hospitalized in “State of shock”he could not be heard earlier, according to the prosecutor.
Presented to an examining magistrate on Friday, he was indicted for “willful violence resulting in death without intention to give it, by a person holding public authority and with a weapon” and placed under judicial supervision, announced Saturday the Bobigny prosecution, whose requisitions were followed. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
His judicial control prohibits him in particular from exercising police activity, carrying a weapon and going to Seine-Saint-Denis. Initially, the investigating judges had requested his placement in pre-trial detention, finally dismissed by the judge of freedoms and detention “after a contradictory debate”says the press release from the prosecution.
The drama led to five nights of violence
The death of Jean-Paul caused five consecutive nights of scuffles in several communes bordering Seine-Saint-Denis. In Sevran, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Tremblay-en-France, vehicles and garbage cans were set on fire and projectiles thrown at the police.
SEVRAN – New night of incidents: firing of fireworks mortars, fires and tear gas.
On Saturday, police opened fire on a man after a truck was stolen. He is dead. https://t.co/ibU7dGKFHS pic.twitter.com/LIO3bR85uK
— Clement Lanot (@ClementLanot) March 28, 2022
The police made 39 arrests for acts of violence and damage. Fifteen people were referred for immediate appearance, including eight minors, who were brought before a juvenile judge. Two police custody were still in progress Friday afternoon. Six convictions were also pronounced, according to a report established by the prosecution.
A white march in tribute to the victim took place on Saturday morning in Aulnay-sous-Bois, bringing together around 200 people in peace, according to a franceinfo journalist on the spot.