The Rennes Court of Appeal increased this Tuesday, October 29, the prison sentences handed down on October 1is July 2024 in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) against four members of the traveling community of La Montagne, Bouaye and Brains (Loire-Atlantique).
No less than 102 facts of « vols », “attempts” and of “destruction by dangerous means” in the Great West were blamed on this “Giulietta gang”, a nickname given by investigators because of the name of the car that the thieves used to break into to commit their car-ramming heists between December 2023 and May 2024.
At first instance, Mylan Elfrich, Thony Rousée, Stany Toquard and Noé Cormier received one to four years in prison, in addition to fines of 4,000 or even 5,000 €. They were also obliged to compensate the seventy civil parties. Dissatisfied with the sentences handed down, the Saint-Nazaire public prosecutor's office appealed this judgment.
A “technical failure” on the Giuliettas
The multiple nocturnal “journeys” carried out in less than six months by these four men aged 20 to 37 resulted in total damage initially set at one million euros, but in the meantime “reassessed” at double, after taking into account of the operating loss suffered by traders: in addition to the amount of theft, many victims have reported costly damage.
The “Giulietta gang” always attacked this model from the manufacturer Alfa Romeo which suffered from a “technical failure” allowing them to open the doors using a simple box. After a few weeks, the investigators managed to anticipate the thefts from private homes by “tagging” several Giuliettas to track the four defendants.
Quickly, these cars ended their journeys in the metal curtains and shop windows: after having used “tools”, “cash” or “scratch game tickets”the defendants set it on fire, according to the prosecution.
Tobacco shop in Magné
Between January and May 2024, the four were active in Loire-Atlantique, in Morbihan, the Nantes vineyards, Vendée, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire. On May 20, a Fiat 500 Abarth convertible stolen in Anjou was found in Clazay in Deux-Sèvres. An hour later, the gang attempted to break down the door of a tobacco shop in Magné, just before a car garage in Saint-Pompain was relieved of a Giulietta.
The next day, after a detour through the Vendée, the criminals relieved a motor-cultivation store in Saint-Paul-en-Gâtine of its chainsaws, blowers and other high-pressure cleaners.
“We have to catch the good thieves”
Despite multiple geolocations, telephone tapping, seizure of clothing identified on video surveillance, none of the defendants ventured to admit participation in the misdeeds. “We have to catch the good thieves, and catch the guilty ones! »had even launched one of them at the Rennes Court of Appeal.
This Tuesday, October 29, Mylan Elfrich, the youngest, was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended on probation. Stany Toquard was sentenced to four years in prison, Thony Rousée to five years and Noé Cormier to six years. All were banned from carrying a weapon for three years and were kept in prison. They were defended in this case by Mes Loïc Cabioch, Sami Khankan and Pierre-Henri Marteret.
