Three suspects were quickly identified after a homejacking on August 15. After being charged, two of them were placed in pretrial detention this Saturday.
It took the Paris police investigators fifteen days. According to information from BFMTV, three young men, including a 15-year-old minor, were indicted this Saturday, August 31, as part of the investigation after a violent attack on an employee of the New Zealand embassy. The facts date back to August 15.
The major suspects, aged 18 and 22, and their alleged minor accomplice were charged this Saturday with charges of “kidnapping”, “armed robbery” and “aggravated violence” by a Parisian investigating judge.
The Paris prosecutor’s office and the investigating magistrate requested that the three alleged perpetrators be placed in pretrial detention. A judge of liberties and detention (JLD) finally decided to place the minor in a closed educational center and to incarcerate the 18-year-old adult in the Villepinte remand center (Seine-Saint-Denis). The third person charged was placed under judicial supervision.
Attackers armed with a pistol and a knife
Investigators from the 3rd judicial police district (DPJ) of Paris followed their trail after meticulous cross-checking.
On the day of the incident, around 7 p.m., an employee of the New Zealand embassy heard the doorbell ring at his apartment in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. Unsuspectingly, this 34-year-old man, who works as a secretary in the New Zealand delegation, opened the door before coming face to face with two strangers, their faces hidden under surgical masks.
The two men are armed with a semi-automatic pistol and a knife. The assailant, armed with the handgun, hits the victim behind the head before tying his hands and ankles with plastic ties such as cable ties. Lying on the floor of his living room, the embassy employee is ordered to reveal the location of his luxury watches and jewelry.
The victim was able to call for help
After getting their hands on one of the coveted watches, the two attackers continued to search the victim’s apartment, after leaving her alone in a room. The thirty-year-old managed to free himself from his bonds and raised the alarm by calling for help through a window.
The two perpetrators of this home-jacking immediately fled before joining a third accomplice who remained at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla model.
Rescued, the embassy employee was taken to hospital where he received about fifteen stitches for a deep wound to his scalp caused by the blow delivered by one of the attackers. He was prescribed seven days of total incapacity for work (ITT).
Having been given the task of investigating, investigators from the 3rd DPJ were quick to follow the trail of the vehicle used by the suspects. This car, which had not been reported stolen, belonged to a rental company based in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine). The police then traced the route taken by this car on the day of the events and managed to identify its occupants.
The minor says he was “forced”
Arrested on the morning of August 29 in Montfermeil, Tremblay-en-France (Seine-Saint-Denis) and Montrouge, the three suspects were taken into custody. The clothes worn by the two alleged attackers on the day of the events were discovered at the homes of the suspects, aged 15 and 18.
The minor quickly confessed, stating that he had been “forced” to take part in the homejacking by older men, but without specifying their identities.
The second suspect also admitted his involvement, while the last one, who remained at the wheel, assured that he had not been informed of this attack by his two passengers. Contacted, their lawyers did not respond.
