Last Monday, early in the evening, the men of the Moulins-lès-Metz highway platoon had set up a road control at the Linkling exit ramp. A rather substantial check since about fifteen officials took part in it. The goal is to check the status of the vehicle’s lighting. But at the stroke of 19 a driver will refuse to stop, slowing down first reaching the level of the men of the CRS 30 then giving the throttle forcefully. Two officials will succeed in the disaster to deviate from the vehicle’s trajectory. The driver will then drive in the direction of Thionville, hitting a passing tow truck, then take the Chaussée d’Asie in the opposite direction. Supported by a motorcyclist from the motorway group, the driver will finally abandon his vehicle, road to Guentrange and will try to escape on foot. He will be easily challenged by the biker.
Halloween night
Placed in police custody, the individual, an 18-year-old Thionvillois, admitted the facts. Aggravating factors, his vehicle was not insured and his license plates were those of another of his cars. Presented on Wednesday for an immediate appearance before the Thionville Criminal Court, the defendant said he was “panicking” because he knew his car was not insured. While the prosecutor had asked for 4 months of imprisonment against him, the court sentenced him to 6 months of imprisonment with a simple suspension. His license is suspended for 6 months. He will also have to pay a fine of 300 euros for lack of insurance and pay the sum of 400 euros to each of the two police officers, who had filed a civil suit, for non-pecuniary damage.
“It was Halloween night, it is easy to imagine the drama that could have happened if this driver had run over some children, many of whom were on the road at that precise moment”, snorts a non-commissioned officer of CRS 30. A unit that is already the his fourth refusal to comply in a month. “This is the current problem, but we won’t give it away,” he insists, firmly, to vouch.
