On October 6, 2021, at 8:30 a.m., Thionville customs officers carry out a dynamic check on the A31. At exit 38, in Yutz, they tell the driver of a vehicle to stop. At first, the latter pretends to park but sets off again. A chase will then begin with two customs cars and one from the gendarmerie, which has come as reinforcements.
While the traffic is heavy, in the middle of rush hour, the fugitive will take all the risks, not hesitating to multiply the changes of lanes, to circulate on the hard shoulder, to drive at breakneck speed almost 200 km/h or to hit two vehicles launched in pursuit. At the Beaumont toll, on the A4, at Moineville (54), he will force the barrier to continue his crazy breakaway. After a good twenty minutes of gymkhana, the police will finally succeed in pinning the driver against the guardrail. In his vehicle, they will get their hands on 230 jars of tobacco, or 37 kg, worth €17,000.
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“A contempt for authority”
His case was judged on Tuesday, in his absence, by the Thionville court. “He told the investigators that he had panicked, that he was not aware of the risks that his aggressive and violent behavior could generate,” said President Gantois. “It’s a real contempt for authority,” castigated the customs lawyer, including 6 agents who filed a civil action. The deputy prosecutor of the Republic was, for her part, falsely surprised by the absence of the defendant at the hearing, a 31-year-old man from Eure. “He must not be comfortable,” she said, recalling his previous convictions for traffic offenses and asking for a prison sentence against him. The court followed suit by sentencing him to 4 months in prison, to pay €17,000 in customs fines and to pay €300 to each of the civil parties for the damage suffered. His vehicle was also confiscated.
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