The comedian was discharged from hospital and taken into custody on Wednesday. A man, suspected of being one of the passengers of his vehicle, was arrested.
Five days after the dramatic road accident involving Pierre Palmade, the investigation is progressing. The comedian left the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital (Val-de-Marne) to be placed in police custody, Wednesday February 15 at the start of the afternoon. Furthermore, uA man, suspected of being one of the passengers in the actor’s car, was arrested in Clichy-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine), learned France Télévisions from several concordant sources. For its part, the family of three people seriously injured, a 38-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman, who lost the baby she was expecting, and a 6-year-old boy, hope that “Notoriety” of the comedian will not influence the investigation. Where are the investigations? Franceinfo takes stock.
The comedian, placed in police custody, “realizes the horror of what happened”
Pierre Palmade, 54, was transported on Wednesday under escort to Melun hospital (Seine-et-Marne) to be heard by investigators in a medical environment, franceinfo learned from a source familiar with the matter. He must be heard under the regime of police custody as part of the investigation opened for “homicide and involuntary injuries resulting in total incapacity for work greater than three months, by driver under the influence of narcotics”. Until now, his state of health had not allowed his hearing.
His sister, however, spoke for him in a press release on Tuesday. “He wakes up little by little and realizes the horror of what happened, of what he caused. He is devastated, he is ashamed”wrote Hélène Palmade. “The idea of having destroyed the life of this family devastates him. He prays, and we with him, that they come out of this with the least possible consequences. He prays. He really prays”she insisted, pointing out that her brother “will assume all the consequences of his actions with the terrible awareness that he will never be able to repair the harm he has done”. She concluded in these terms: “As vain as it may seem, Peter asks their forgiveness from the depths of his soul.”
A man, suspected of being a passenger on the run, arrested
Two people were in Pierre Palmade’s car at the time of the accident on the D372, near Villiers-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne). According witnesses, they fled after the collision. On Monday, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior, Camille Chaize, had asked them to “surrender” For “explain the facts”.
A man suspected of being one of these passengers was arrested on Wednesday in Clichy-la-Garenne. His identity is being verified. The woman who was sheltering him was also arrested.
The other passenger is still wanted. Investigators hope to be able to identify him from the analysis of Pierre Palmade’s phone and from a video of the accident, taken from a camera embedded in a car, which two motorists gave to the police. Recordings from surveillance cameras located on the road were also seized for analysis.
On Tuesday, an alcoholic man was taken into custody because he claimed to have been present in the car. He eventually confessed to lying, assuring investigators it was a gamble.
An intrusion into the home of Pierre Palmade after the search
One or more people broke into Pierre Palmade’s house in Cély-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne) overnight from Monday to Tuesday, franceinfo learned from a source familiar with the matter, confirming information from the Parisian and RTL. Around 1:30 a.m., the comedian’s home alarm went off. The gendarmes then intervened, specifies this same source. Traces of break-in were found on an outbuilding of the house. An investigation has been opened.
On Sunday, a search was carried out in the comedian’s home by police and gendarmes. While thehe actor was driving under the influence of cocaine when he hit the vehicle which was coming in front, no narcotics were seized during this operation, learned franceinfo from the prosecutor of Melun, Jean-Michel Bourles. But suspicious products were found. They are being analyzed to determine their exact nature.
Victims and their loved ones “insensitive to the apologies presented”
Shortly after these first words relayed on behalf of the comedian, the victims and their relatives replied to be “insensitive to the apologies offered”, by the voice of their lawyer Mourad Battikh, during a press conference in Paris. The 38-year-old man and his 6-year-old son were still in intensive care on Tuesday. “[Le conducteur] has undergone between five and seven operations in the last 72 hours” And “his son would have a fractured jaw and would be disfigured”, said the lawyer. The 27-year-old, six months pregnant, lost her unborn child.
“It was his first child, it was going to be a girl”, said Mourad Battikh. The lawyer addressed the issue of the death of the child in utero as follows: “There is case law from 2001 which explains to us that if the child is not born alive, well the qualification of manslaughter cannot be retained. There will therefore be a debate to know if this qualification can be retained. or not. To do this, we are waiting for the autopsy reports and the feedback from the experts who will tell us whether or not the child was born alive.”
“My clients hope that the notoriety of Pierre Palmade will not influence the investigation”continued Mourad Battikh, stressing that “the family is waiting for Mr. Palmade to be placed in police custody as soon as possible, or brought before an investigating magistrate”.