None of the three knows what he is doing at the bar of the criminal court. They have nothing to do with the concealments, theft, attempted thefts committed in the district of Thionville between September 15 and October 7, the day of their arrest. “I was walking in a parking lot and the gendarmes jumped on me,” reports one of the defendants.
The trio is however prosecuted for criminal association, implicated for a series of misdeeds, attacks on property. The investigation by the search brigade lasted several weeks. Surveillance and video analysis would have made it possible to repair a procedure and identify three men. The first is 40 years old, settled in Angevillers, fourteen mentions in the locker, a majority of which were concealments and thefts. The second lives in a caravan in Épinal. At 50, he is also known to the courts for theft, carrying a weapon, concealment. He is the stepfather of the third defendant, 29, who lives in the same reception area for Travelers. He was convicted of theft when he was a minor, then for two traffic offenses.
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Appeal to victims
“These are organized people who use stolen vehicles to get around”, summarizes the deputy prosecutor. Some vehicles were found burnt. The investigation accuses them of five vehicle concessions, theft, jewelry concealment, two attempted thefts, one in a car in Audun-le-Tiche, the other in a house in Tucquegnieux. . Surprised by the owners, they couldn’t have gone further.
The court did not judge them on Monday, October 11, in immediate appearance. The magistrates believe that more information is necessary in this case. The hearing of presumed victims and the precise inventory of stolen objects are requested. “The case is not in a state to be tried, so it seems difficult to hear that it is about a gang of organized criminals”, tackles a defense lawyer. On the contrary, the court considers that the three defendants should be kept in pre-trial detention pending trial. The hearing is postponed until November 22.
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