The man explained that he had a “fascination with buses”, which pushed him to steal a coach in Mantes-la-Jolie.
This is what we can call limitless passion. Last May in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines), a few days after a first theft from an RATP warehouse, a second bus was stolen on the night of Thursday May 30 to Friday May 31.
The thief and the bus were found shortly after by the police, about thirty kilometers from Mantes-la-Jolie, in the Eure department. The thief had in the meantime fallen asleep at the wheel of the vehicle. He was arrested and taken into custody.
Found asleep by the police
During his hearing, the 19-year-old man admitted to investigators his “fascination with buses”. Living in Sartrouville, he explained to the police that at the time of stealing the Mercedes-Benz Citaro vehicle, he was simply wandering the streets of Mantes-la-Jolie.
Thus, passing in front of the RATP depot, the suspect then said he had the idea of stealing the bus worth 250,000 euros “to go for a ride” to Évreux. On the way back, he decided – again according to his words – to rest in the town of Pacy-sur-Eure, where he was found by the gendarmes alerted to the theft a few hours earlier.
The man is already known to have criminal records for driving without a license and vehicle theft, including buses. During his hearing, the young man was found to be positive for narcotics. An alcohol test is carried out before the suspect is released pending the results.
More than 6,000 euros of damage to the bus
On Tuesday, June 25, after receiving the results of the toxicological tests which were negative, investigators from the Mantes-la-Jolie judicial police summoned the 19-year-old man to return to police custody.
They then confronted the thief with the damage noted on the bus, worth 6,654 euros. The man states that he has “no memory of any incident that could have caused damage to the vehicle”.
After being brought before the Versailles judicial court, he was sentenced to six months in prison. He was released pending his summons before the sentencing judge.
Maxime Cliet Ruzza, with Alexis Lalemant
