© Thomas SAMSON
Bobigny prosecutor Eric Mathais, during a press conference, April 1, 2022 in Bobigny
The police officer whose shooting caused the death of a motorist during a check a week ago in Sevran (Seine-Saint-Denis) was indicted and placed under judicial supervision, while a white march was organized Saturday in memory of the victim.
The 32-year-old civil servant, assigned to the anti-crime brigade (BAC) of Aulnay-sous-Bois, was indicted for “willful violence resulting in death without intention to give it”, announced the Bobigny prosecution. .
The investigating judges in charge of the case had requested his imprisonment but the judge of freedoms and detention, as requested by the prosecutor, placed him under judicial supervision, including a ban on exercising police activity. , said the prosecution.
During his police custody, the policeman claimed to have been “unbalanced” when checking the victim’s vehicle, added “to have felt in a state of self-defense” and “to have fired for this reason”, had detailed Friday the prosecutor of Bobigny Éric Mathais during a press conference.
A week following the death of “JP”, a 33-year-old Guyanese delivery driver, more than 300 people took part in a white march on Saturday between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Sevran, noted an AFP journalist.
His companion called for “calm” and “respect for his memory”, during a brief speech where the cameras of journalists were not welcome.
The couple were raising four children and planned to settle in Canada, according to family lawyer Steeve Ruben.
The death of Jean-Paul, originally from the city of Beaudottes in Sevran, caused several nights of violence in his city and the neighboring municipalities of Aulnay and Tremblay-en-France (Seine-Saint-Denis).
– Litigation –
It intervened on March 26 shortly following noon, when a team of police officers from the BAC wanted to control the reported stolen van driven by the victim.
A brigadier got out alone from the unmarked police car which was stuck in road traffic, according to the testimony of the three other police officers present at the scene and the CCTV images, said the Bobigny prosecutor.
The official said “he stood at the level of the driver’s window, raised his weapon while shouting + police! + and said that he tried several times to open the door which was locked”, he continued. “He saw the driver engage a gear and accelerate strongly,” said Mr. Mathais.
© BERTRAND GUAY
A local burned during urban violence in Sevran, March 29, 2022 in Seine-Saint-Denis
“At this stage of the investigation, the exact chronology of this very rapid sequence is not yet fully established,” insisted the prosecutor.
Seriously injured in the shoulder blade by a shot from the police, the driver died a few hours following his admission to hospital.
The autopsy confirmed that the shooting was the cause of death.
On the spot, a 9 mm caliber holster was found. The bullet went through the victim’s body and seat back.
For Me Arié Alimi, one of the family’s lawyers, “the policeman has no reason to shoot, there is no danger and he is not wearing a police armband”. “We wonder if the victim was white, would the police officer have fired?” Asks the lawyer.
According to the accounts of residents, the victim was a self-employed delivery driver who worked with a parcel delivery service provider and with whom he had a dispute.
Lawyers for the family claimed the van ‘was not stolen’ and that ‘there was a dispute with the person he worked for who refused to pay him and he kept the van pending to be paid”.
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