“Driving at full speed for 25 kilometers, at night, in bad weather, endangering the lives of several people including yours, these are extremely serious acts,” declared judge Gérard Pitti when sentencing Khalil Bouzekri to four years in prison, to which is added the revocation of a six-month suspended sentence. The defendant was kept in detention this Thursday, June 13.
This 20-year-old Foyen was arrested on 1er May after a chase that started from Place Ravezies, in Bordeaux, and ended in Vayres a quarter of an hour later. “A short deadline given the mileage,” points out judge Marie Rouquier-Lafitte. Indeed, the DS7 SUV he was driving was flashed at 144 km/h by a radar on the Bordeaux ring road. The police officer driving the anti-crime squad (BAC) car who chased him even recorded a speed of 190 km/h.
Going the wrong way on a roundabout
The report of this chase is damning: zigzag on the A10, exit from the motorway cutting off the path of trucks, roundabout taken in the wrong direction, forcing the other vehicles to move aside in a hurry, and especially attempts of intimidation towards the police car that Khalil Bouzekri hit twice. “In my thirty years of career, I had never seen that,” testifies one of the three police officers who became civil parties. “When he saw that he couldn’t outrun us, he did everything he could to hit us. »
“It backed up violently towards us, with a vehicle weighing almost 2 tonnes and a 200 horsepower engine”
“He braked repeatedly on country roads without lights and while it was raining,” adds the driver. And at one point, when I was struggling to turn around on a narrow road, he backed violently towards us, with a vehicle weighing almost 2 tons and a 200 horsepower engine. I managed to limit the impact. He hit us a second time. It was when he was about to hit us a third time that the colleague fired and injured his knee. »
“You avoided the worst,” said Marie Rouquier-Lafitte. The thesis of self-defense has actually not been called into question. “I clearly saw myself dying,” says the police officer who fired. He said he had “very complicated sleep” in the weeks following this arrest. “If we resumed service so quickly, it is only because with the holidays approaching, workforce management would have been complicated if we had extended the work stoppage. »
“I was panicked”
“I was afraid,” says the defendant in an attempt to explain his behavior. “I was driving without a license. I did not know what to do. I understand the reaction of the police. I apologize to them. » Speaking hesitantly, in a barely audible voice and searching for words, he admits that he was driving dangerously, but by not “remembering” certain facts. Having backed up suddenly to hit the BAC car, for example. “I was panicked. I hadn’t seen them. » “The panic is you who created it,” retorts Marie Rouquier-Lafitte firmly.
“Today, every time Khalil Bouzekri looks at his knee, he remembers that he almost killed people”
He rented this DS7 for 200 euros to a person contacted via the Snapchat application. They found themselves in an isolated place near Saint-Loubès. “But I only found out afterwards that it was a stolen car. He showed me the registration document. I needed a vehicle to go to work. » The procedure establishes in fact that Khalil Bouzekri was in professional training at Cestas. Although no problems were noted in terms of alcohol or drug consumption, he had nevertheless already been sentenced in 2022 for drug trafficking, driving without a license and refusal to comply.
” Set a trap “
“Obviously he knew the car was stolen,” says M.e Sapata, the lawyer for the three police officers. “Just like he knew that if we didn’t catch him, we wouldn’t find him again.” » “If he lured the BAC car onto this country road, it was to set a trap,” adds prosecutor Benoît Bernard. “Mr Bouzekri used his vehicle as a weapon. What he did is called willful violence. All the audio shows that the police officers were afraid of losing their lives. »
“Mr. Bouzekri knew that if we did not catch him, we would never find him again,” argued Me Guillaume Sapata, the lawyer for the three police officers.
Ch.L.
What M refutese Clavel, speaking in defense of Khalil Bouzekri: “No objective evidence proves that he sought to kill. He wanted to escape. He said it in all his testimony. Today, every time he looks at his knee, he is reminded that he almost killed people. We must show him a better way. If he goes to prison, he will meet people who will push him a little further in the direction of delinquency. » These arguments did not convince the court.
