Limoges: police officers cleared of theft at Lacoste, investigation opened into video creators
Two motorcycle officers from Limoges police station were accused on social media of stealing shoes from a looted shop. The prosecutor denies the allegation and has opened an investigation for defamation.
Limoges: viral video accuses police of theft, judicial authorities respond
According to Actu17, a viral video accused two motorcycle police officers from Limoges police station of stealing shoes from a Lacoste shop looted on Saturday 17 October. The footage, filmed from a window on rue du Clocher, showed two helmeted officers placing items into their motorcycle panniers, including a pair of white shoes. The media outlet that distributed the sequence accompanied it with an explicit headline: "Two police officers loot shoes from a Lacoste shop". The video was viewed nearly three million times on Facebook and shared by several accounts, notably that of LFI deputy for Essonne Antoine Léaument.
On Monday, the National Police and the prosecutor's office categorically denied these accusations. The two officers had not committed theft: they were carrying out a seizure ordered by a judicial police officer (OPJ) as part of an investigation into aggravated theft. The communications service of the national police directorate (DGPN) stated that the procedure had been opened following the arrest of one of the thieves and condemned "a manipulation particularly targeted at our personnel". The National Police posted a denial message on X that was viewed more than 600,000 times, urging internet users to remain "vigilant in the face of videos circulating on social media".
The prosecutor of the Republic, Emilie Abrantes, published a statement detailing the legal context. The two police officers filmed were acting on the order of the OPJ to seize items immediately accessible from the shop window in order to use them in the investigation. She emphasised: "These items, seized in this strict context, were moreover subsequently returned to the shop manager."
The manager of the Lacoste shop confirmed to franceinfo that he presented himself at the police station on Sunday 18 October. He recovered his items there, notably the pair of white shoes visible in the images. According to France 3, no employees were in the store at the time of the events. The shop stated to the media: "We had mainly feet because there weren't many pairs left..."
The prosecutor announced the opening of a judicial investigation against the person or persons responsible for the video, on the charge of defamation. This offence carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment. Emilie Abrantes concluded her statement by expressing the prosecutor's office support for the two police officers "unjustifiably called into question in the exercise of their mission in service of the judicial authorities". The title of the video was subsequently modified by the platform, according to information gathered by franceinfo.
Source: Actu17