arrest of a driver on the run, suspected of having knocked down and killed a teenager in Rivehaute

The fugitive driver suspected of having hit a sibling on Tuesday April 11 on a departmental road in Rivehaute (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and killed a 14-year-old girl was arrested and placed in police custody on Wednesday April 12, in the evening, learned France Bleu Béarn Bigorre of the public prosecutor of Pau.

He is a 31 year old man. Tuesday evening, around 10 p.m., a sibling of three teenagers was hit by a car in Rivehaute (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), on the RD 23, including Hyméris, a 14-year-old teenager who was on rollerblades and who was fatally hit. In a press release, the public prosecutor of Pau, Rodolphe Jarry, indicated that “Three teenagers from the same siblings were cycling and rollerblading on departmental road 23”. Among them, a 14-year-old girl was “hit from behind by a car”. According to the prosecutor, the driver did not stop and fled. When they arrived, the emergency services could only confirm the death of the victim. His two brothers were hospitalized.

The driver admitted to hitting the siblings

The public prosecutor of Pau, Rodolphe Jarry, indicated on Wednesday evening that the “driver of the vehicle in question was arrested and taken into custody. He is a 31-year-old man”. He did not stop after the accident on Tuesday evening around 10 p.m. and had been on the run ever since. On Wednesday, the gendarmerie of Orthez (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) had launched an appeal for witnesses to find the fleeing driver.

According to the Pau prosecutor’s office, the investigators were able to find the driver with the help of this call for witnesses. A resident reported seeing the car they were looking for. This testimony allowed the gendarmes of the Orthez search brigade to identify the direction taken by the fugitive. Investigators were also aware of the model of the vehicle involved thanks to the debris found at the scene of the accident.

The fleeing driver could therefore be arrested, 20 hours after the accident which took place on the RD 23 between Mauléon and Sauveterre-de-Béarn, the bypass which bypasses the town of Rivehaute, also called the “Voie de la Soule “. According to France Bleu Béarn Bigorre, the man admitted the facts. He was Thursday still in custody.