Published
Video length: 2 min
Assault on a taxi driver in Sarthe: the radicalized suspect was imprisoned
Assault on a taxi driver in Sarthe: the radicalized suspect was imprisoned
(France 2)
Following the investigation into the assault of a taxi driver near Le Mans, in Sarthe, the alleged hostage-taker was imprisoned. He was known to the police for Islamist radicalization.
After 96 hours in police custody, the terrorist plans of the alleged suspect, Dereck R., are becoming clearer. The man, arrested after having kidnapped and threatened to kill a taxi driver in Sarthe, had several targets in mind. A few days before the events, while he lives in Le Mans (Sarthe), he initially planned to attack public places in the city, including perhaps a synagogue.
He gave up in the presence of the police, and then decided to attack a business. He armed himself with two firearms, ammunition, a knife, adhesive tape and a butcher’s paper, before taking a taxi driver hostage. The latter, tied up and injured in the neck, managed to escape. He claims that the alleged suspect wanted to slit his throat, which his lawyer denies. Dereck R. then took a train to Poissy (Yvelines), where he was arrested.
The man had already been convicted of common law offences. Released from prison at the end of June, he became radicalised in detention. Investigators are trying to find out whether he was planning an attack in the Île-de-France region. They are certain that he had accomplices.
