A man was arrested on the evening of Tuesday November 12 on a Nice-Marseille train near Toulon (Var). He was arrested after hitting a young girl in a train car, according to information from France Bleu Provence. “After checking the file of wanted persons, [les policiers] realized that he was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge in Evry”, Toulon prosecutor Samuel Finielz told AFP. The man is also suspected of having killed a homeless person in Lyon and of having committed attacks in Dijon and Strasbourg. Here is what we know about these cases.
He is suspected of having killed a man with a cinder block
The man arrested Tuesday evening is suspected in a murder case in Lyon. In the 2nd district of this city, a homeless man of Moldovan nationality was discovered dead on 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.
The tragedy aroused great emotion in this district located not far from Perrache station. “I hope you are in a better place now. Rest in peace. I didn't really know you but to me you were a neighbor”wrote a local resident on a note left at the scene of the murder, reports France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. An investigation into murder was opened after the death of this thirty-year-old named Emilio.
He is suspected of attacks in three other cities
The person arrested in Toulon could be involved in an attack that occurred on October 23 in Evry (Essonne), franceinfo learned from a source close to the case. That day, a man was hit with a concrete blockon the square in front of the Evry-Courcouronnes station. The victim first saw his vital prognosis compromised. Forty-five days of ITT were prescribed to him. A judicial investigation was opened and an arrest warrant issued against the suspect.
In Strasbourg, a homeless person was attacked by a man with stones on October 31. The victim has since been in a coma. According to a source close to the case, the man arrested in Toulon could also be the person wanted in Bas-Rhin.
Finally, in Dijon, a 42-year-old woman was attacked on July 25, in the Toison d'Or district, by a man who could correspond to the suspect arrested in Toulon, France Bleu Bourgogne and franceinfo learned from the prosecutor of Dijon. The victim received “one or more stone blows to the head”. The victim's ITT was set at ten days. “The suspect could not be arrested, but was identified as a man who had recently been the subject of an OQTF [obligation de quitter le territoire français] notified to Dijon. A search warrant was issued against him by the Dijon public prosecutor's office on August 2.adds the city prosecutor.
Possible involvement in an attack in Rotterdam
The type of victim and the method of operation observed in Lyon are similar to a case that occurred on the night of November 4 to 5 in Rotterdam (Netherlands), where a homeless man was attacked with concrete blocks. The scene was also filmed. The Dutch police then released, in a wanted notice, an image of a man, aged around thirty, wearing a black raincoat, blue pants and shoes with orange laces. “This man seriously injured a homeless man this week”she wrote.
The man was later located on a train heading to Belgium. After the Toulon arrest, Dutch police clarified “investigate whether this is the suspect linked to the Rotterdam attack”. “At this stage we cannot confirm this”declared his spokesperson to AFP. A source close to the case tells franceinfo that the identity of the suspect, who also presents the profile of a homeless person, is being consolidated.
