The hostage taking in progress since the end of the morning at Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône) ended without injuries. The detainee who was holding five people in the health unit of the central house surrendered after “the intervention of Raid negotiators”, according to several police sources. “The agents and staff are safe and sound,” said Jessy Zagari, FO Justice national delegate.
Five people in total – four medical staff and a supervisor – were taken hostage shortly after 11 a.m. in the health unit of Arles prison, by an inmate equipped with a homemade pick. A first hostage, a doctor, was released at 2:30 p.m.
Handcrafted punch-type weapon
It was while he was going around 10:45 a.m. to the Complex Addiction Care Unit (UCSA) of the prison, “as part of follow-up care”, that the man threatened the four members medical staff and the supervisor, “with a homemade punch-type weapon”, before “sequestering” them in an area of the care unit by “locking a door with bars” and “impeding it by means of of a medical bed,” said the Tarascon public prosecutor, Laurent Gumbau, in a press release.
“At first, (the detainee) helped free the doctor, a young mother,” and then “we were able to free the other hostages, so things ended well but they could have been very dangerous in reason for the weaponry” and “the profile of the hostage taker”, detailed the police prefect.
Change establishment
Aged 37, the inmate is incarcerated for rape at gunpoint and had expressed his desire to be changed penitentiary center. He was available for release in 2031.
This detainee seemed to have the “motive” to change establishment, but “there was no specific, written request, as detainees can make to the prison administration”, underlined during the press conference the Tarascon prosecutor.
“The investigations during police custody must in particular determine the motive of the person concerned, confirm the absence of psychiatric pathology and determine the conditions of manufacture and detention of the homemade weapon used,” specified Laurent Gumbau in the press release.
