“Unbelievable violence. » It is with these words that the public prosecutor of Châlons-en-Champagne, Annick Browne, described the facts which took place this Sunday, November 17, 2024, rue Jacques-Prévert, located between the districts of Verbeau and Croix- Dampierre.
It was 6:30 a.m. when residents, alerted by screams, rushed outside their homes and discovered a young woman, bloodied, lying on the ground of the subdivision's parking lot. Quickly arriving on site, emergency services discovered a 25-year-old victim with multiple wounds and fractures on the face, as well as on the hands. “I have rarely seen acts of such violence in my careersays Annick Browne. The young woman was taken to hospital. A piece of her phalanx was severed and she lost the use of one eye. » Although seriously injured, the victim's vital prognosis was not in jeopardy.
“He benefits from the presumption of innocence and admitted the facts this Tuesday afternoon before the investigating magistrate”
Before help arrived, the alleged attacker fled in a white van. A few hours later, a vehicle corresponding to this description was taken out of the Marne canal, between the gardens and the town of Sarry. “In all likelihood, it could be the van in which or near which the attack took place. Samples must still be taken from inside the vehicle. »
Around the same time, the owner of the van presented himself drunk at the Châlons police station to report the theft of the van. Quickly placed in police custody, he was presented before an investigating judge. “He benefits from the presumption of innocence and admitted the facts this Tuesday (November 19, Editor’s note) afternoon before the investigating magistrate”continues the public prosecutor.
The man, a 52-year-old from Châlonnais, is already known to the courts. His criminal record shows three old mentions and a more recent one for facts related to alcohol consumption. He was also in the past implicated in proceedings for rape dating back to 2010, a case ultimately closed without further action.
A criminal judicial investigation was opened by the Châlons public prosecutor's office for “violence leading to mutilation or permanent disability with the aggravating circumstance of the use or threat of a weapon”. A weapon that has not yet been identified or found.
