A specialist in explosives and cash dispensers, Jérôme V. was indicted this Friday, February 10 in Paris, for “criminal association”. This 48-year-old man is suspected of having, on Wednesday October 5, 2022, blown up the distributor of a post office in Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise). The criminal is also suspected of having planned other operations that did not see the light of day. His five associates, aged 27 to 40, were also indicted for the same facts by the same judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS). These men are all unfavorably known to the police for facts related to drug trafficking and banditry. The six suspects were imprisoned.
This repeat offender was arrested on Tuesday at his mother’s home in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis) by police officers from the Versailles research and intervention brigade. In the same period of time, his alleged accomplices were arrested in Bondy and Livry-Gargan before being placed in police custody in the premises of the brigade for the repression of banditry in the royal city. The searches only found a dismantled gun and a cannabis herb plantation.
The load was a little too heavy
Jérôme V. has been in the crosshairs of Versailles investigators since the explosion of this vending machine. That morning, it was 6:30 a.m. when a major explosion shook this post office in Sarcelles. The bandits blew up the transfer airlock with explosives. The charge was placed on the flip of the device to prevent damage to the silver.
“They had a heavy hand, the machine flew away before landing on a car,” said a source close to the case. If the operation was technically successful, the thieves did not manage to take the loot. The three bags containing 240,000 euros deposited in the trap were found on the spot by the police. The police collected several testimonies which evoke the presence of two hooded people who would have fled on a scooter. The artificer’s genetic fingerprint is found at the scene.
This man is none other than Jérôme V. Born in Bondy, this robber has already spent more than twenty years behind bars. In 2007, he was sentenced by the Assize Court of Seine-et-Marne for having, on August 17, 2004 in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, attacked an ATM with explosives. Damaged, the machine had not yielded. He was eventually identified after beating a stripper. The young woman’s complaint had led the police to come across a rocket launcher and the Audi that had been used in the failed robbery.
Then in 2011, he attacked a broker on the A1 motorway in the Somme and seized 31 kilos of gold. He also distinguished himself for his involvement in drug trafficking. The criminal was sentenced twice for selling drugs to his fellow prisoners and outside the penitentiary centers of Liancourt (Oise) and Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis).
He maintains that he is the victim of a conspiracy
Since his release from prison, Jérôme V. has run a small works company and lives with his mother. The thief is in a relationship with a woman who lives in Allonnes (Sarthe) and quickly runs out of money. “When he visits him, they are seen committing robberies in stores to survive,” said another source familiar with the matter. The criminal surrounds himself with a team of low-level delinquents who live near his home. His lieutenant is none other than the boss of the deal point in a Bondyn housing estate on rue Martin-Luther-King. He is also notoriously known for selling weapons. “He’s not a big trafficker, he still lives like a wretch in his half-disused building,” says a specialist.
For four months, officials from the research and intervention brigade at Versailles placed his men under surveillance. Spinning, sound systems and wiretaps multiply in the hope of catching the thugs in the act. In recent days, the bandits were preparing to blow up a new distributor in Villepinte. They abandoned their project for an unknown reason. During the hearings, the suspects made fanciful statements to support their denials. Jérôme V. maintains that he is the victim of a conspiracy and justifies his travels by the desire to pray at his dog’s grave. Contacted, one of the thug’s lawyer, Me Alexandre Sargologo, did not answer us.
