The man arrested on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 12 on a train in Toulon (Var), suspected of having killed a homeless person in Lyon with a concrete block, is actually the suspect of a similar attack against a homeless person in Rotterdam (Netherlands). ). Low) in early November, Dutch police said Wednesday. He is “suspected of being involved in the attempted murder of a 37-year-old homeless man” On Tuesday, November 5 near the old port of Rotterdam, he said in a press release. His victim, hit in the head according to a video, was seriously injured.
In addition to the murder in Lyon and the attack in the Netherlands, the police question his role in several attacks carried out with a “modus operandi” similar to Evry, Dijon and Strasbourg.
Railway police were called on Tuesday afternoon following an attack on a young woman on board a train. Its author was arrested at Toulon station. “After checking the file of wanted persons, they realized that he was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by an investigating judge in Evry”Toulon prosecutor Samuel Finielz told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The man was detained and measures will be taken to transfer him to the investigating judge who orders it.”he added.
According to the Evry prosecutor’s office, this order targeted an attempted murder committed on October 23 in the square in front of the Evry-Courcouronnes station. A man, who was sleeping, received a concrete block in the face. Initially hospitalized with a life-threatening prognosis, the victim was finally given a total incapacity for work for 45 days, the prosecutor’s office explained to AFP.
Suspect located for the first time on a train heading to Belgium
On the night of November 4-5, a homeless man was seriously injured in the same way in Rotterdam. In a wanted notice posted online, Dutch police posted an image of a black man, dressed in dark clothing and orange lace-up shoes. “This man seriously injured a homeless man this week with a large tile”wrote.
In a video captured by a surveillance camera and posted on the Internet, we see him carrying a type of slab on his head that he throws towards a man who is lying on the ground. According to Dutch police, the suspect was located aboard an international train heading to Belgium. After Toulon’s arrest, the latter clarified for the first time “Investigate if this is the suspect linked to the Rotterdam attack”. He later confirmed that it was the same man.
A homeless man murdered in the same way in Lyon
A murder was committed in the same way in Lyon, where a homeless man of Moldovan nationality was found dead on Monday morning with a large head wound and a bloody concrete block next to him. A CCTV camera filmed someone hitting him on the head. A murder investigation has been opened.
Analysis, in particular of DNA, is being carried out to verify whether the detained man is indeed the author of this homicide, according to the Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran.
An investigation opens in Strasbourg
An investigation was opened in Strasbourg after the attack on a homeless person on October 30. The victim was initially hospitalized in extremely serious condition, but his life is no longer in danger, prosecutor Alexandre Chevrier said in a statement.
Research is being carried out to “establish a relationship with the detainee” in Toulon, but “At the current state of the investigation, there is no objective link and any conclusion is premature”he added.
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In 2023, at least 735 homeless people died in France, according to figures published at the end of October by the collective Les Morts de la rue, which specifies that“a significant proportion of deaths” it escapes him. Although in more than half of the recorded cases the cause of death is unknown, between 5% and 6% are due to assault.
