The man, arrested at Toulon station on Tuesday, is suspected of having killed a homeless person with a cinder block in Lyon. But the latter is also cited in other cases of attempted homicide, with the same modus operandi across France and the Netherlands.
A criminal journey through France and the Netherlands. Tuesday, November 12, police officers requested by railway security arrested a man at the Toulon station, in the Var. The latter was reported by a 26-year-old woman, who had just been attacked on board a train between Marseille and Nice.
At the police station, a police officer recognizes the person in custody as the man wanted after the death of a homeless man in Lyon, killed with a cinder block on the night of Sunday 10 to Monday 11 November.
Then quickly, the police officers go through the warrants issued against him and realize that the individual they have just arrested is cited in several cases of attempted murder in France, but also in the Netherlands.
This man, who presents himself as originally from Cameroon, is under OQTF. BFMTV was able to trace the suspect’s journey.
Dijon, Évry-Courcouronnes, Strasbourg…
It all started on July 25 in Dijon, in the Côte d'Or department. That day, a 42-year-old woman was hit in the head by one or more stones in the Toison d'Or district. Injured, she received 10 days of ITT. A search warrant for intentional violence with a weapon resulting in an ITT of more than 8 days was issued against this man by the Dijon public prosecutor's office on August 2, 2024.
A few months later, on October 23, 2024, a man sleeping on the square in front of the Évry-Courcouronnes station (Essonne) received a concrete block on the head. Seriously injured, he will receive a 45-day ITT. A new search warrant is issued against the suspect. The Évry public prosecutor's office confirmed to BFMTV the opening of a judicial investigation into the charge of attempted intentional homicide.
Seven days later, an attempted homicide took place in Strasbourg on a homeless person in the city center on October 30. In a press release, the public prosecutor indicates that, although the victim's vital prognosis was initially compromised, his life “is no longer in danger”.
An investigation is still underway into this case and the magistrate specifies that there is “no objective link” with the others.
A case that becomes media news in Rotterdam
At the beginning of November, the suspect's French journey came to an end. He leaves France to go to the Netherlands, more precisely to Rotterdam.
In this port city of more than 650,000 souls, a 37-year-old homeless man was the victim of a violent attack on the night of November 4 to 5, with the same modus operandi: he received a concrete block in the head. Hospitalized in serious condition, the man is still in a coma.
The Dutch police quickly communicated about the case and released several video surveillance images. The first, that of the attack where the suspect is seen with a concrete block, rushing before throwing it at the homeless man. The second, a video of the man in a supermarket, with his face and physical description.
The man then continues his journey, returns to France and finds himself in Lyon, in the Rhône. In the capital of Gaul, a homeless man of Moldovan nationality was killed during the night from Sunday to Monday. Once again, the bloody concrete block found near the body, in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, echoes the other cases. The Lyon public prosecutor's office opened an investigation for assassination after these events.
The man will be transferred to Evry
To BFMTV, the Toulon public prosecutor indicates that the suspect was placed in detention in Toulon, pending his transfer to Évry-Courcouronnes.
In Essonne, he will be presented to an investigating judge in the coming days. For the moment, he has not yet been questioned about the acts of which he is suspected. It will be in Évry-Courcouronnes.
Pauline Revenaz and Martin Regley
