Confused for seven burglaries aboard a stolen Mustang, spotted by video surveillance

Monday June 24, four men were summoned before the tribunal from La Roche-sur-Yon to respond with a series of thefts and attempted thefts committed in February 2021.

Before the judges, only two defendants were present.

Seven offenses committed “in less than 48 hours” are accused of the four defendants. A journey that starts on February 21, 2021 at Pouzauges with the burglary of a garage in which three vehicles were stolen: a Ford Mustang, an Audi A5 and a Ford Puma.

Seven thefts or attempts in less than 48 hours

It is thanks to these stolen cars, spotted by video surveillancethat investigators will link the different facts which will follow. On February 22, at Herbaria, the Orange store is broken into with theft of phones and cash. The perpetrators attempt to rob another store a hundred meters away, JMR, but they only break the window. The following night, the stolen vehicles were seen in Chanverrie, Cholet and Beaupréau where fuel and cigarette thefts were committed at gas stations. In the videos, we sometimes see two, sometimes four, sometimes six individuals, all hooded and gloved.

On February 23, the stolen Mustang was seen in Redon, near the Bouygues store where digital tablets had been stolen. The gendarmes were tracking her following a refusal to comply committed shortly before in Cholet. Sami, a 23-year-old young man, without a license and driving the Ford, was arrested. The passenger had time to escape.

In the vehicle, the gendarmes found balaclavas and gloves, but also a cell phone, which allowed them to arrest Jessy, aged 31. The investigations also made it possible to arrest two other people, Abdel and William, aged 28 and 51 respectively.

At the bar on Monday June 24, only Sami and Jessy faced the judges, because they were both in pre-trial detention. The other two were conspicuous by their absence.

The two men present refuted their participation. The owner of the phone found denied it outright, explaining that his smartphone was stolen during a drunken evening.

“The authors deny the evidence”

As for the victims, only the Pouzauges garage filed a civil suit. His loss amounted to €85,000 with the theft of cars and damage to his premises. He claims €2,500 for moral damage, the insurance having compensated him for the rest. His lawyer adds €2,000 in the name of article 475.1 of the Penal Code, “because it is not up to the victim to pay lawyer fees”.

For the prosecutor, “the authors deny the evidence and prefer to remain silent”. For the magistrate, “the links between the seven facts are perfectly established”, based on DNA traces and shoe traces found in the cars and certain looted stores.

She is requesting a three-year prison sentence for the oldest, “long rooted in delinquency,” she emphasizes, taking into account the 34 mentions on his criminal record. The second defendant, who is absent, aged 28, risks two years in prison. The one identified by his phone could also get two years, but with an electronic bracelet. As for the youngest, the prosecutor is requesting a one-year prison sentence and one year with probation suspended for two years with an obligation to work and to compensate the victims.

The lawyer who defends Jessy immediately questions the court. “Are you sure that my client was present at Les Herbiers, at Cholet, at Pouzauges…? » And the lawyer reshoots the film of the journey: “In Redon, we have three hooded individuals. At the Herbiers, there are two of them. In Chanverrie, there are four of them, always hooded and gloved. In Beaupréau, there are six of them… You have no material evidence to say that my client was on the scene and you will have to release him with the benefit of the doubt.” And to specify that if the phone found is indeed that of Jessy, “he did not have a Sim card”, crediting according to his version of the theft of his smartphone before these facts.

Sami’s lawyer responded to the uncertainty of his client’s formal presence at the scene of the thefts. Confused by the traces of shoes found in the garage, the council notes that they are “sneakers from the comma brand, the most popular and which everyone wears”. He also pleads for release for the thefts, the court could therefore only sentence him for his driving without a license. “Since then, he has passed his license, he is a young person who has worked, who is at a turning point in his life. A firm sentence would not be appropriate.”

The court will deliver its deliberations on 1^is July.

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