Right in the center of the capital, at the time of the milkman, an unconscious driver took all the risks to escape the police. This man was arrested overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday in Paris after a chase with the police.
Around 4:30 a.m., in the Oberkampf sector (XIe), the police on patrol spot the driver of a Fiat 500 who is multiplying the offenses. “They saw him run three red lights,” said a source close to the case. On the Place de la Bastille, the man drives at breakneck speed and passes in front of the officials who nevertheless order him to stop. The small Italian car rushes towards the rue de Rivoli with the police line of sight in its rear view mirror.
In front of number 39 of this main artery, the fugitive zigzags between the cars and hits a lamppost then the back of a taxi which was passing by. Determined, the driver jumps out of his Fiat and flees on foot. The agents run on his heels and manage to arrest him on the boulevard Sébastopol (IVe). “Fortunately, the taxi driver is unscathed,” adds the same source. The investigators passed the license plate of this Fiat in the file. Result: it’s a stolen car.
Twelve drivers killed after refusing to comply
The suspect, slightly injured, was taken to hospital to have his wounds and bumps treated. His police custody was deferred pending his hearing by the legal accident processing service (STJA). The prosecution has 48 hours to decide on the follow-up to this procedure.
Refusals to comply are increasing in Paris and the Paris region, where drivers of all kinds are pursued by the police. Under the effect of adrenaline, they are capable of committing the worst recklessness, not hesitating to put the lives of civil servants in danger. A most perilous situation, because the police now open fire when they believe that their life is threatened. In 2022, across the country, twelve people died after police shootings in connection with these traffic offences.