Young man died on a scooter: his lawyer accuses the police of having “deliberately” hit him, “untruth” in their defense

Europe 1 with AFP 2:48 p.m., March 16, 2024

The lawyer of the young man who died on a scooter on Wednesday in a chase in Aubervilliers, in Seine-Saint-Denis, accused the police on Friday of having "deliberately" hit him, the police lawyer criticizing an "untruth" and defending the accident theory.

Early Wednesday evening, a scooter ridden by two young men was pursued by the police after a refusal to control.

In an avenue in Aubervilliers, the two-wheeler was hit by a vehicle from an anti-crime brigade (BAC) called for reinforcements, which was coming in the opposite direction.

In the collision, the driver Wanys R., 18, was killed and his passenger injured.

A video of the tragedy was widely distributed on social networks and in the media.

“The video shows that it is the police vehicle which swerves and which hits the scooter in the wrong direction and deliberately,” said Friday evening in a press release Me Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for the family of Wanys R. and the injured passenger.

Me Bouzrou announced his intention to file a complaint against the police officers for intentional violence leading to death without intention of causing it and aggravated intentional violence.

“There is obviously no voluntary act”, assures Laurent Nuñez

According to a press release from the Bobigny public prosecutor's office on Thursday, which was based on the first elements of the investigation, "the driver of the BAC crew was forced to swerve to avoid a vehicle which was not respecting a priority and collided with the scooter coming in the opposite direction.

The video, viewed by AFP, shows a vehicle appearing to be a taxi leaving the shoulder just in front of the police car and ending up in its path.

It then moves onto the opposite lane where it hits the scooter coming in front.

“At this stage, I have no reason to question the version that was given by my police officers,” police prefect Laurent Nuñez declared during a press briefing, adding that “there is no obviously no voluntary act.”

“It is quite obvious that the police vehicle had to make an emergency avoidance maneuver at the last moment because the third party vehicle was cutting it off, this is clear from the video,” Mr. Jérôme Andrei told AFP , lawyer for the two police officers in the front of the vehicle.

“To say that he hit him voluntarily is an untruth,” he added, “objectively it remains an accident.”

The "allegations" of the prosecution about an "accidental collision linked to the behavior of a third party motorist appear fanciful and are refuted by the video", for his part estimated Me Bouzrou in his press release, requesting a change of scenery for the procedure.

The three police officers who were in the vehicle involved in the collision were interviewed freely by investigators from the IGPN, the “police of the police”.

“The analysis of testimonies, police reports and the set of videos continues actively to have as objective a way as possible the circumstances of the accident and the moments which preceded them,” declared Friday to the AFP the public prosecutor in Seine-Saint-Denis Eric Mathais.