A 32-year-old man was arrested this Tuesday at Toulon station (Var) after committing violence against a woman on a train from Marseille. Under OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) and of Cameroonian nationality, he was the subject of an arrest warrant for attempted murder and murder, including that of a homeless man killed with concrete blocks on Monday night on Tuesday, in Lyon, we learned from police sources.
Police officers were called by train controllers after a 26-year-old woman reported being attacked shortly after the train left Marseille Saint-Charles station. As she walked towards her seat, the man allegedly punched her twice in the shoulder and side, as well as kicked her in the shin.
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Frightened, she immediately warned the controllers, who quickly identified the individual – who was traveling without a ticket – and had the train stopped so that the police could arrest him, said a source close to the case.
Wanted for several murders
Once the man was arrested, around 8 p.m., the police noted a striking correspondence between the profile of the man and that of the person implicated in the murder of another homeless man, killed this time in Rotterdam on the night of November 4 to 5, also with a concrete block.
The crime, widely reported by the media in the Netherlands, was filmed by surveillance cameras and broadcast on social networks. In both cases, the two men wore the same clothes and had the same build, we learned.
The victim, aged 37, “is still fighting for life”, De Telegraaf reported on Tuesday. Police said the suspect fled after the attack by boarding a train bound for Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium.
On the night of November 11 to 12 in Lyon, a homeless man of Moldovan origin was also killed with concrete blocks. Filmed once again by video surveillance, the crime presents a disconcerting similarity to that committed in the Netherlands. We see an individual – also dressed like the suspect arrested in Toulon and filmed in Rotterdam – strike the homeless man in the head, according to the Lyon prosecutor's office.
According to our information, the man, based on the identity he gave to investigators, is also wanted for three other murders in Évry (Essonne), Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) and Dijon (Côte d'Or). ). Placed in police custody this Tuesday evening, he is interviewed by investigators from the Toulon national police awaiting possible indictment.
