what we know about the investigation in which a suspect was taken into custody

The DNA analysis carried out made it possible to confuse the man arrested on Friday with the DNA found on one of the numerous victims.

“The important and patient work of the numerous police officers mobilized in the search for the rapist has paid off.” This was declared by the public prosecutor of Grenoble (Isère), Eric Vaillant, in a message sent on Saturday April 6 to the media, confirming that a suspect was arrested on Friday in the investigation into the “rapist in the scooter”. The man taken into police custody on Friday afternoon is suspected of being the author of a series of sexual assaults, rapes and violence against young women, committed between February 8 and March 16, in Grenoble and its outskirts. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this affair.

Judicial investigation opened for seven acts, including two rapes

The Grenoble public prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation on March 29 for seven acts committed in just over five weeks. The investigation concerns, in detail, two rapes committed in Grenoble and Saint-Martin-d’Hères on March 11 and 16, an attempted rape on March 16 in Grenoble, a sexual assault and violence with a weapon on February 17 in Grenoble, an extortion attempt on February 8 in Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux and, the same day, violence in Grenoble, detailed prosecutor Eric Vaillant.

This file could also include an eighth case. A young woman attacked on the night of December 16 to 17, 2023 filed a complaint on Thursday, believing she had been a victim of the same man, according to information from the Dauphiné Libéré confirmed by the prosecutor.

Eric Vaillant had described the attacker as a “20-year-old man, European type, without accent, around 1.70 m tall and of normal build, even slightly plump, brown eyes, pale complexion and rather red hair”. “The broadcast of the rapist’s report allowed the police to collect several dozen testimonies which are processed by investigators diligently”added the magistrate on March 29.

A 22-year-old man arrested and taken into police custody

The man arrested Friday matches the physical description established by Eric Vaillant, according to information from Dauphiné Libérésubsequently confirmed by the prosecution. During their investigations, investigators from the Local Judicial Police Service (SLPJ) managed to identify the suspect using telephone tracing, according to the local newspaper. Living in Fontaine, in the suburbs of Grenoble, the 22-year-old young man is known to the police, but only for “minor facts”precise The Dauphiné Libéré.

The DNA expertise of the samples taken during the suspect’s custody, carried out urgently by the Lyon national police laboratory, made it possible to confuse the individual “on one of the cases which the prosecution referred to the investigating judge”said Eric Vaillant on Saturday. “Only one rape can be reliably attributed to the suspect thanks to DNA. At this stage, the investigation continues into the other facts”he added. The man will be presented to an investigating judge.

A very specific operating procedure

The suspect, dressed entirely in black, acted alone, according to the victims’ testimonies, said the prosecutor. He spotted his victims in front of bars or nightclubs in downtown Grenoble, but also in the neighboring towns of Saint-Martin-d’Hères and Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux. The man then followed his victims, “young women aged 20 to 27”with his black electric scooter, right in front of their home, “before attacking them”detailed Eric Vaillant.

This is the procedure that Julie*, 20 years old, described to France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. She says she was attacked by a man on a scooter on the night of December 16 to 17. After an evening spent in a nightclub, she takes a self-service scooter to reach Echirolles, on the outskirts of Grenoble. On the road, she is followed by an individual, who hits her and hits her several times. “He knew very well what he was doing and the most worrying thing was his look”she explains to France 3.

The young woman falls and ends up escaping her attacker by taking refuge in a clinic. The student suffered several bruises to her elbows, knees and head. Although she did not file a complaint immediately, her meeting with Maria*, another victim of attack by a man on a scooter, pushed her to change her mind. She filed a complaint on Thursday, reports France 3, and it is this complaint which could constitute the eighth fact added to the file.

Maria*, 21, also testified to France 3. She describes events that occurred on the night of February 16-17, when a young man sneaked into her building and chased her until the second floor. According to his account, the man then asked the student to accompany him to the bicycle garage before trying to lure her into the room. “I shouted at him to let go of me and I pushed him very hard. (…) I ran away”, she reports. Maria filed a complaint the next day for attempted sexual assault. “I’ve been alone at home for weeks and weeks. All I want is for the fear to change sides.”

* First names have been changed.