A 38-year-old man, shot in the thigh, lodged a complaint against a municipal police officer in Fontaine, in the metropolitan area of Grenoble. He was injured while riding a scooter. Hit by the two-wheeler, the policeman also filed a complaint against the 30-year-old and invoked self-defense.
He can no longer set foot on the ground. It is with the help of crutches that Toufik B. now moves, his right leg immobilized. A large scar extends over his right thigh, the stigma of a gunshot wound that occurred on June 15.
“The doctor gave me medicine for the pains but it doesn’t matter, it’s useless”says this 38-year-old mechanic, showing the 54 stitches on his leg. “The surgeon, he told me that I was lucky. You have come a long way”explains this Algerian national who has been living in France for seven years, in the Grenoble area.
“Maybe it will come back, but maybe I won’t walk anymore. Now I’m 38 and I’m going to end my life disabled”he continues, disillusioned.
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A man injured by police fire files a complaint for intentional violence • ©France 3 Alpes / JC Solari –
On June 15, Toufik leaves his home and gets on his scooter. He rides on the bike path, on the dike along the Drac. Motor vehicles are prohibited. Suddenly, two men appear.
The mechanic gives his version of the facts. “The first one, he gassed me. Me, I was scared, I didn’t know it was the police, I didn’t understand. Afterwards, I heard the bullets, I continued on my way “says Toufik who then believes he is the victim of an attack.
A few hundred meters further on, the 30-year-old realizes that he is bleeding. “I didn’t know the ball hit me. I kept going and then I fell. It tore my muscles, ligaments, I can’t move my foot anymore”, he continues. The bullet went through the thigh through the back of the knee.
Another crew intercepts it at this time. “On would have said a cowboy. He pulled out his caliber straight away. He put his foot there, and he crushed”he said, pointing to his chest. “He took out the caliber in front of my head”, he continues, shocked by this interpellation which he considers muscular. He then loses consciousness and goes to shock treatment at the hospital.
The bullet entered through the back of the knee and severed muscles, nerves and tendons, causing loss of mobility in the right leg. • © France 3 Alpes / J. Ducrot
Toufik B. acknowledges having “made a mistake” by taking the cycle path prohibited for scooters. But he says “have no problem with the police”. “If she says stop me, I stop. But there, she pulls the gas straight out, I was scared”.
The mechanic therefore filed a complaint against the municipal police officer for “willful violence with a weapon by a person holding public authority, resulting in permanent disability”.
“These are facts that are extremely serious for me and totally unusual in the Grenoble conurbation. The man who had only committed an act liable for a single fine, being on a dike with a scooter will suffer a gunshot that will cause permanent disability”protested his lawyer.
“The scooter is perfectly in order, the man is wearing a helmet and he is unknown to the police, he has nothing on him, he has no narcotics, no weapon, he has absolutely nothing illegal on him”continues master Emmanuel Decombard. “We do not understand at all the reason why today the police version would be that there was a refusal to comply”.
The municipal policeman also filed a complaint against Toufik B. for “violence with a weapon by destination”. The agent says the scooter was heading towards him and hit him, resulting in three days of work stoppage.
The mayor of Fontaine publicly defended the police officer during the Municipal Council on July 3. Franck Longo believed that there were all the elements of self-defense there.
“The investigations which are in progress show that the scooter was heading towards our agent, that our agent was injured and that this case falls within the framework of self-defense. (…) We are once again renewing everything to him our support and we let the investigation work of the police, the IGPN and the justice system to bring us all the clarifications”declared the mayor of the commune of Isère.
2023-08-10 16:38:09
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