what we know about the death of two teenagers after refusing to comply

The two 17-year-olds, suffering from multiple trauma and in cardiorespiratory arrest, were hospitalized late Friday evening. Two investigations were opened, one of which was entrusted to the IGPN.

A new tragedy has added to the toll of young people who died in chases with the police. Two 17-year-old teenagers lost their lives in an accident after refusing to comply in Chelles (Seine-et-Marne), which occurred on Friday December 8. Hospitalized in serious condition, they succumbed to their injuries. The Meaux public prosecutor’s office has opened two investigations, one for refusal to comply and the other for homicide and involuntary injuries. Here is what we know about this affair.

A red light burned as a starting point

According to the Meaux public prosecutor’s office, a red light burned Friday evening around 11 p.m. in the neighboring department of Seine-Saint-Denis was the starting point of the tragedy. A crew from the anti-crime brigade (BAC) of Neuilly-sur-Marne then tried to control the scooter, according to the same source, but the two-wheeler refused to stop and continued its course for two kilometers.

The police headquarters, for its part, stressed to AFP that “in accordance with the instructions” of the police prefect, Laurent Nunez, “the police notified the command room of the vehicle’s refusal to comply” and that they engaged his “supported”. BAC agents used their “sound and light warning devices” to get the scooter stopped, the prosecution said.

No collision with the police car, according to the first elements of the investigation

Arrived in Chelles, “the driver tries to brake, but in my opinion too late”detailed the Meaux prosecutor on Sunday to the press, Jean-Baptiste Bladier, specifying that the two-wheeler was driving “at a very high speed” on “a very wet road”.

On images filmed by a police officer’s body-worn camera, “we literally see the vehicle slipping away from under the feet of its occupants. Afterwards, things move extremely quickly”added the magistrate. “The bodies will slide and get stuck under a vehicle” who was stopped at a red light.

The fall of the two-wheeler was probably not the result of an impact with the police car which was pursuing him, according to the first results of the investigations communicated by the prosecutor. Jean-Baptiste Bladier reported that investigators received Sunday “the spontaneous testimony of two separate motorists”Who “certified that they did not observe any material contact between the BAC vehicle and the scooter”. “More precise technical operations” must confirm or not this first result, specified the magistrate.

The driver and his passenger hospitalized with multiple trauma

The prosecutor said the police arrived “to help” to the victims immediately after the accident and that the firefighters and the Samu were engaged “very quickly”.

The two young people, living not far from there, in Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne), were hospitalized with polytrauma and in cardiorespiratory arrest late Friday evening. The passenger died Saturday morning. The driver of the two-wheeler, whose vital prognosis was in jeopardy, died on Sunday afternoon, the Meaux public prosecutor announced in a press release.

“No one deserves to die for refusing to comply.”reacted the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, in an interview with the media Brut on Sunday, before the announcement of the second death.

Two open investigations, one of which entrusted to the IGPN

The Meaux public prosecutor’s office has opened two investigations. The first, for refusal to comply, was entrusted to the Chelles police station. The second, on counts of homicide and involuntary injuries, is carried out by the Parisian delegation of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), the “police of police”.

According to the prosecution, the driver of the scooter was “unknown to the police” but did not have a driving license. The passenger was known to the police for theft and drug use.

This drama is added to the numerous recent cases of young people dying in recent months in France during chases with the police. In June, the death of Nahel, 17, killed by police shooting during a road check in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), triggered several nights of very high intensity urban violence in the country.

Since Friday evening, the police forces of Seine-et-Marne have set up a “secure” in Vaires. No incident was observed in the area, but special vigilance was maintained there for the night from Sunday to Monday.