Twelve cars and six two-wheelers were set on fire in the 16th arrondissement on the night of Monday May 6 to Tuesday May 7. A man had left a note, he was arrested.
Around twenty vehicles were set on fire in the 16th arrondissement of Paris between the night of Monday May 6 and Tuesday May 7. A man, who left a note at the scene of the crime before leaving, was arrested less than 24 hours after the incident.
The events took place around 1:15 a.m.: 12 cars and six two-wheelers were hit, at the intersection of Claude-Chahu and Eugène-Manuel streets. Quickly, around twenty firefighters arrived on site to put out the fire, an intervention which lasted three hours in total.
“There was nothing left, everything was burned. There was still a little smoke, it was all black. People were scared too,” a local resident told BFM Paris Île-de-France.
A word found by investigators
This Wednesday, May 8, the building located at 1 rue Eugène-Manuel was completely blackened by the flames which reached several meters high on the evening of the events. The burned cars and two-wheelers were evacuated on Tuesday. No injuries were reported and no evacuation was put in place for the residents of the building, who were able to stay at home.
At the scene of the fire, a threatening note was found by investigators. The person suspected of causing the fire was arrested Tuesday by the 16th arrondissement police station.
According to several residents, the suspect was “known” in the neighborhood for having already attempted, several weeks ago, to set fire to an apartment in the same building to attack one of the residents with whom he was in conflict.
Support from the mayor
Jérémy Redler, town hall (LR) of the 16th arrondissement, told BFM Paris Île-de-France that he would provide his full support to the residents: “I will discuss with local residents in the coming days on the subject to give them my full support.”
A “victim notice” was posted at the entrances to the buildings adjacent to the blackened building, to invite owners of burned vehicles to file a complaint.
For the moment, the Paris prosecutor’s office has not responded to requests from BFM Paris Île-de-France.
