Ardèche: 64-year-old retiree remanded in custody for series of overnight thefts from shops
Police have arrested a man in his sixties following six burglaries carried out in late 2025 on the Ardèche plateau. The court sentenced him to eighteen months in prison.
Ardèche: 64-year-old retiree remanded in custody for series of overnight thefts from shops
A 64-year-old man was remanded in custody after being tried in immediate appearance proceedings for a series of overnight break-ins committed in late 2025 in northern Ardèche. The prosecutor obtained a sentence of eighteen months' imprisonment without suspension.
The case dates back to November and December of the past year, a period during which six establishments — shops and community centres — were broken into in Saint-Agrève and in the neighbouring municipality of Tence, located in Haute-Loire. The amounts stolen remained modest, but law enforcement has emphasised that the psychological impact on managers and volunteers remains severe.
The investigation was led by the local gendarmerie, who managed to track down the suspect thanks to a biological clue: DNA traces recovered from a beer can left at one of the crime scenes. The suspect, already flagged in the database of wanted persons, was not resident in the region; he was staying temporarily on the plateau when he committed the offences.
Arrested on 1 July, he appeared before the judge the following day. The verdict was delivered immediately: eighteen months in prison with remand in custody.
This case is not isolated in the department. As noted by the media ici.fr, several organised gangs have been dismantled in recent months for repeated thefts targeting second homes and shops in southern Ardèche.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)