Wanted for over a week, the fugitive of the hit and run in Lorient, aged 20 was arrested Tuesday 18th June 2019 in a hotel in Lanester, Morbihan.
The driver of the car who killed a 9-year-old boy and seriously injured his 7-year-old cousin on 9 June was arrested on Tuesday 18th June 2019 in a commune near Lorient and taken into custody, the prosecutor said. Republic of Lorient, Laureline Peyrefitte.
The police, alerted by a person who recognized the suspect with his photo on the call for witnesses, arrested him at a hotel in Lanester (Morbihan), in the northern suburbs of Lorient.
Placed in custody
Arrested “around 11am”, the suspect, aged 20, did not resist and was placed in custody at the premises of the departmental security of Lorient, according to a source close to the investigation.
The public prosecutor of Lorient must communicate more information at the end of the day during a press conference.
Already known for driving without a license and violating drug laws, this man was described in a call to witnesses as measuring 1.80m, of “normal corpulence, Eurasian type, dyed matte, black hair”.
[#AppelàTémoins TERMINÉ] Grâce à vos témoignages et leur minutieux travail d’enquête, les policiers de #Lorient ont interpellé le conducteur ayant pris la fuite après l’accident mortel du 9 juin.
Merci de votre mobilisation et de ne plus relayer l’appel à témoins le concernant. pic.twitter.com/DBS9QpBnUl— Police nationale (@PoliceNationale) 18 June 2019
Important means of research
Important means have been mobilized to find it. Thus, a major ground and helicopter search operation was launched Monday in Riec-sur-Belon (Finistere), after the testimony of a man who said he recognized it, according to the local press.
Friday morning already, the police had immobilized during fifteen minutes a TGV Quimper-Paris in the station of Rennes, following another erroneous report. And Thursday, in the Nièvre, a whimsical testimony had caused the deployment of 63 gendarmes, including 12 GIGN, as well as helicopter support.
It was only six kilometres from the scene of the accident that the suspect was arrested at the B & B hotel in Lanester.
Up to ten years in prison
The passenger of the vehicle, aged 21, was arrested Wednesday night in Caudan after spontaneously presented to an inhabitant. She was indicted for failing to assist a person in danger and placed in custody on Friday night.
The accident occurred on June 9th in Lorient after a refusal to obey while the vehicle was tracked remotely by the gendarmerie. The vehicle, which was running at high speed on the lane reserved for buses, first hit another car at the end of the roundabout, without making any injuries, before mowing on a sidewalk the two children, two cousins of Turkish origin.
The female passenger faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison for failing to assist a person in danger while the driver of the vehicle faces a 10-year prison sentence.
The prosecutor’s office opened Friday a judicial inquiry for “aggravated manslaughter”, “aggravated involuntary injuries”, “driving without a license for recidivism”, and “lack of insurance and refusal to comply aggravated by endangering others “.
