A volunteer firefighter, suspected of being the cause of 27 fires in six months in the Saumur region, was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention, we learned Monday, September 20 from a judicial source.
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This 42-year-old man is suspected of having committed "
27 incidents of fires in Brain-sur-Allonnes, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Breil
" between April 7 and September 17, 2021, indicated the Public prosecutor of Saumur, Alexandra Verron, confirming information from the local press.
10 years in prison
Arrested at the end of a long investigation and placed in police custody on Friday, he was referred to the Saumur prosecutor's office, and indicted on charges of "
willful destruction by fire
" and "
by dangerous means
", and placed in pre-trial detention Sunday.
Judicial information was also opened at the request of the prosecutor.
The suspect faces a 10-year prison sentence.
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Volunteer firefighter, this father "
perfectly integrated and without criminal record
", would have started fires by targeting "
woods, vegetation, the forest
", according to the prosecutor.
"
This had created a certain stir locally because many of these plots belong to hunters
", underlined Alexandra Verron, who specifies that as a firefighter, "
he intervened on some of these fires
".
For now, the suspect has provided investigators with explanations that are still confused: he said "
he suffered a traumatic event in his family
" and said he wanted to hunt "
images he wanted to burn
", said Ms. Verron. According to the prosecutor of the Republic of Saumur, the statements of this man will have to be re-specified in the context of a possible psychiatric expertise.
