The septuagenarian was released from the hospital. A 29-year-old suspect, unfavorably known to the police for “road litigation and drug law violations”, was arrested.
A “intolerable act”. A septuagenarian and her granddaughter were victims, Monday, June 19, of an attack “of rare violence” in Bordeaux, the prefect of Gironde reported on Tuesday on Twitter, adding that a suspect had been taken into custody. The man, born in 1993, of French nationality, is unfavorably known to the police and justice services for road and drug-related offenses. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this attack, images of which have circulated on social networks.
The assault was filmed by a videophone
The facts happened “around 5:30 p.m.”, Cours de la Martinique, in the Chartrons district. The attack took place in front of the home of the 73-year-old, who was accompanied by his “7-year-old granddaughter”, said Frédérique Porterie, public prosecutor of Bordeaux.
In a video broadcast Monday evening on the twitter account of the former mayor Les Républicains de Bordeaux, Nicolas Florian, and widely relayed on social networks, we see the girl and her grandmother getting ready to return to their building. But when the door closes, a man, who was waiting a few meters from them, puts his foot in the door, violently pulls the grandmother, who finds herself thrown on the sidewalk with her granddaughter, in tears. He then grabs the girl by the arm, pushes her to pick something up from the floor, and runs away as a dog comes out of the doorway.
The assault was filmed”thanks to the presence of a videophone”, says the prosecutor in her press release. A neighbor who witnessed the scene also provided a description of the author. To the police on the spot, the lady said “to have been abused by a man who would have tried to kidnap the little girl”. “The barking of the dog would have scared the suspect away”, says the prosecutor.
The two victims “suffer from bruises and abrasions”, said the magistrate again, specifying that a “first medical certificate evaluated the grandmother’s ITT at 4 days”. She was able to leave the hospital. The two victims will both be seen again by a medical examiner who will proceed to “a complete expertise and will determine the psychological consequences of this act of particular violence”.
A suspect unfavorably known to the police
The description of the author and his vehicle enabled the police officers of the anti-crime squad to arrest him very quickly, “at 6:30 p.m.”. The 29-year-old showed up “very agitated and resistant during his arrest”. He was immediately taken into custody for “home invasion, attempted kidnapping and sequestration, violence against vulnerable people and minors under 15”, adds the prosecutor. For now, he denies the facts. Placed under guardianship, he also indicated “to be followed at the psychiatric level and to be out of treatment”.
The suspect is unfavorably known to the police. He was convicted fifteen times, “mainly in connection with road litigation and drug law violations”, says the prosecutor’s statement.
The family of the victims denounces a “political recovery”
Pierre Hurmic, environmental mayor of Bordeaux, said to himself “extremely shocked by this attack”on Tuesday at a press conference. “I bring my support and my empathy to this grandmother and her granddaughter”he added. His predecessor, Nicolas Florian, denounced “unbearable pictures” and called “to the greatest severity in the penal response”.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran spoke of a “gratuitous violence (…) which illustrates the need for security for the French” and said the government had increased”more than ever the justice budget”, as well as law enforcement personnel.
Several far-right officials have on the contrary questioned government policy and immigration, although the suspect is French. “These attacks are daily and insecurity, aggravated by the migratory chaos, becomes endemic. How many videos like this are needed for the power to react?”tweeted Marine Le Pen. “How awful. Bordeaux today. This is what they have done to our country. French people, wake up”reacted Eric Zemmour, on the same network.
In a press release sent to the media by their lawyer, Me Nadège Pain, the family of the victims says “outraged by the political recovery that is made of this news item as well as the media use of the images without its explicit agreement and without the slightest respect for the identity of the victims or their private life”. “He is perfectly indecent to use this news item to evoke an ethnic origin or to justify penal or migratory reforms”, adds the family in this press release, welcoming “police work” And “of Justice” who apprehended the alleged perpetrator “in a very short period of time.”