The man arrested on the evening of Tuesday, November 12 on a train in Toulon (Var), suspected of having killed a homeless person in Lyon with a concrete block, is indeed the suspect in a similar attack against a homeless person in Rotterdam (Netherlands). Low) in early November, Dutch police said on Wednesday. He is “suspected of being involved in the attempted murder of a 37-year-old homeless man” Tuesday, November 5 near the old port of Rotterdam, she said in a press release. His victim, hit in the head according to a video, was seriously injured.
In addition to the murder in Lyon and the attempt in the Netherlands, the police are questioning its role in several attacks carried out with a “modus operandi” similar to Evry, Dijon and Strasbourg.
Tuesday evening, the railway police were called after the attack on a young woman on board a train. Its author was arrested at Toulon station. “After checking the file of wanted persons, they realized that he was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge in Evry”told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the Toulon prosecutor, Samuel Finielz. “The man was placed in detention and measures will be taken to have him transferred to the ordering investigating judge”he added.
According to the Evry public prosecutor's office, this warrant was aimed at an attempted homicide committed on October 23 on the square in front of the Evry-Courcouronnes station. A man, who was sleeping, received a concrete block in the face. Initially hospitalized with a vital prognosis, the victim was finally given a total incapacity for work for 45 days, the prosecution explained to AFP.
Suspect first located on a train heading to Belgium
On the night of November 4 to 5, a homeless man was seriously injured in the same way in Rotterdam. In a wanted notice, published on the Internet, the Dutch police released an image of a black man, wearing dark clothes and orange lace-up shoes. “This man seriously injured a homeless man this week with a large tile”she wrote.
On a video captured by a surveillance camera and posted online, we see him carrying a sort of slab on his head which he throws towards a man lying on the ground. The suspect was then located on board an international train heading to Belgium, according to Dutch police. After Toulon's arrest, the latter first clarified “investigate whether this is the suspect linked to the Rotterdam attack”. Then confirmed it was the same man.
A homeless man killed in the same way in Lyon
A murder was committed in the same way in Lyon, where a homeless man of Moldovan nationality was discovered dead Monday morning with a large wound on his head, a bloody concrete block next to him. A CCTV camera filmed someone hitting him in the head. An investigation into murder has been opened.
Analyzes, in particular DNA, are underway to verify whether the man arrested is indeed the author of this homicide, according to the Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran.
Investigation opened in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg, an investigation was opened following the attack on a homeless person on October 30. The victim was initially hospitalized in an extremely serious condition, but his life is no longer in danger, said the prosecutor, Alexandre Chevrier, in a press release.
Investigations are underway to “establish a relationship with the individual arrested” in Toulon, but “in the current state of the investigation, there is no objective link and any conclusion is premature”he added.
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In 2023, at least 735 homeless people died in France, according to figures published at the end of October by the collective Les Morts de la rue, which specifies that“a significant proportion of deaths” escapes him. Although the cause of death remains unknown in more than half of the cases recorded, 5% to 6% are due to an assault.
Read also | In 2023, 735 homeless people died, according to the collective Les Morts de la rue
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