A motorist injured two police bikers on Monday by deliberately hitting them on the sidelines of a roadside check in Colombes, near Paris, and invoked "the situation" in Palestine in his first statements after his arrest.
An oncoming car moving to the left
In his car, the investigators found a knife and a "letter explaining his gesture," said the Nanterre prosecution without giving further details. The national antiterrorism prosecutor's office (Pnat) was in the evening in the "observation" phase to determine if it was going to take up the investigation. "The investigation which is beginning will shed light on (the) motivations" of the suspect, promised Interior Minister Christophe Castaner in a tweet.
My thoughts are with our two injured police officers when they were hired to protect us.
Tribute to the coolness of the municipal police officers who came to their aid and arrested the accused.
The investigation that is beginning will shed light on his motivations. https://t.co/Q56XdJq1jS
The facts took place shortly before 17:40 during a joint road check by the national police and the municipal police of Colombes, in the Hauts-de-Seine, on an avenue near the Yves du Manoir stadium, according to the Nanterre prosecution . The two bikers were stopped checking a vehicle when an oncoming "black BMW" deported to the left to strike them, also reaching a municipal police car which was behind them , said the prosecution.
The two police officers hospitalized
One of the bikers was seriously injured in the head, the other in the legs and pelvis, according to the prosecution. Both were hospitalized but their life prognosis is not in jeopardy. A police source initially reported a scooter driver who allegedly fled to escape control, a version not confirmed by the prosecution. Immediately arrested by municipal police, the driver of the BMW, a 29-year-old Frenchman living in Colombes, said that his gesture was "voluntary", according to sources close to the file.
Suspect has no recent criminal record
One of these sources indicated that, during his first statements, the arrestee had indicated "having hit the police in retaliation for the situation in Palestine". "He said during his arrest that he had watched videos on Palestine before acting," confirmed the prosecution. The suspect was placed in police custody and was in the evening during the hearing. "We check the elements of personality and his psychological profile," added the prosecution, according to whom a search was also underway.
The suspect has no recent criminal history, was "not on file S and was unknown to the intelligence services," said Nanterre public prosecutor Catherine Denis, who visited the site. The man was only known for "facts of common law," said a source in his prosecution. He was also the subject of a legal reminder for contempt of agent in 2014.
The criminal brigade was seized, with the support of the Departmental Service of the Hauts-de-Seine judicial police. This incident comes in the context of recent tensions with the police in the department and while France has been living under the constant threat of jihadist attacks since 2015.