After a psychiatric assessment, the custody of the inmate who took five people hostage on Friday at Arles prison (Bouches-du-Rhône) was interrupted on Saturday. A psychiatric expert concluded that his hospitalization in a specialized unit was necessary, according to a press release from the Tarascon prosecutor.
The doctor concluded “that there was a decompensation of personality disorders having the effect of making him dangerous for himself or others” and recommended “constrained hospitalization in a specialized environment”, indicated the public prosecutor of Tarascon, Laurent Gumbau.
This 37-year-old Guyanese national took four medical staff and a prison guard hostage for five hours on Friday, in the care unit of the Arles central prison. He had kidnapped them under threat of a homemade weapon, before surrendering without causing any injuries.
The man seemed to have the “motive” to change establishment, but “there was no specific, written request, as inmates can do with the prison administration,” the Tarascon prosecutor emphasized on Friday. .
The custody of this detainee, who was serving an 18-year prison sentence at Arles central prison for rape at gunpoint, was lifted at 6:30 p.m., the magistrate said, “and an admission complete without consent implemented (…) at the specialized hospital center of Montfavet” (Vaucluse).
“He could ultimately be taken care of at the beginning of next week within the specially designed hospital unit (UHSA) in Marseille,” he added. As soon as his health condition “is sufficiently stabilized, he will be interviewed again as part of a resumption of the police custody measure”, specified the public prosecutor.
Several sources highlighted on Friday the psychiatric disorders of the detainee, described as “unstable”, without any pathology being formally established. The Bouches-du-Rhône police prefect, Pierre-Edouard Colliex, described this man, known “for acts of violence, particularly in detention”, as “very dangerous”.
VideoAn inmate at Arles prison took five people hostage with homemade picks
The hostage-taking at Arles prison ended without causing any injuries on Friday with the release of the five hostages “unharmed”, and at the end of a “fairly long and fairly complicated negotiation”.
