Urban violence in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps: ten police officers injured after collision with motorcyclist
A night of clashes in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps left ten members of the forces of order injured following the collision of a police vehicle with a motorcyclist.
Wild stunt riding, collision and riots during the night in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
Around twenty vehicles set alight, fireworks mortar fire in several districts and ten members of the forces of order injured: such is the scale of the urban violence that occurred during the night of Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 September in Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, near Tours, France Info reports.
It all began around 7 p.m. on Saturday, when police officers intervened in the Rabaterie district to put an end to disturbances linked to motorcycle stunt riding practised by "several young people", according to the Indre-et-Loire prefecture. During this intervention, "one of the motorcycles was struck by a police vehicle", the same source specifies. The motorcycle driver, born in 2006, was injured in the leg and hospitalised; his life is not in danger.
"Several dozen young people" on the streets
The collision sparked the trouble. Groups involving "several dozen young people" then moved into several districts, attacking police officers and gendarmes with mortar fireworks fired near residential areas. The clashes lasted part of the night.
Five young people, born between 2005 and 2010, were arrested for "participation with a weapon in a gathering with concealed face", announced Tours prosecutor Catherine Sorita-Minard.
A police officer in custody, an investigating judge contacted
The police officer driving the vehicle involved in the collision was placed in custody immediately after the incident. The prosecutor also opened a judicial investigation for wilful wounding. "An investigating judge is to be contacted", she announced on X.
A separate investigation was also launched for urban stunt riding and failure to comply.
The injured motorcyclist was to be heard on Sunday by investigators.
Witnesses in shock, mayor calls for calm
Local residents expressed their distress to France Télévisions. "We are in shock. I hope it will stop the vandalism, but I am shocked. It is sad because I saw the scene, but we also want news of the young lad", one of them confided.
Some young witnesses to the scene claim that the forces of order deliberately hit the motorcyclist. The authorities indicate that nothing allows them to confirm these allegations at this stage.
Olivier Conte, mayor (Independent) of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, reacted unambiguously: "I heard it last night. There are many testimonies saying so. Today, the investigation must demonstrate these facts or not. But we cannot resort to violence, burning, vandalism. That is not how we serve justice."
Source: France Info