On the iron curtain of his bakery, he modestly summed up his situation with the expression "Closed due to a problem".
In truth, it is "in tears", according to the prosecutor, that he emptied his bag in front of the investigators after their net of Tuesday evening.
This merchant in the rue de l'Evangile (Paris XVIIIth) was the victim on four occasions of a strange gang of racketeers.
Four young people - three women and a man - who pretended to be police officers who had come to control the establishment.
One of them had the ideal profile for this role: she is a real police officer.
In fact, a security assistant at the 15th arrondissement police station.
Search of the business, photocopy of the identity card ...
This Friday afternoon, the president of the court placed the quartet under judicial supervision pending their trial.
"They all have a clean criminal record and they have recognized the facts", deciphers an observer.
This Tuesday at 7 p.m., the gang is arrested in flagrante delicto in front of the business.
"There were three police vehicles, it was impressive," describes "The old man", a figure from the neighborhood, in the bistro around the corner.
It was the fourth time that the baker had taken pressure from the real-fake police.
Strong checks with search of the business, photocopy of the identity card with the obligation to close the iron curtain during the intervention.
The booty obtained with these extortions: "A few thousand euros", advance a source close to the file.
“I realize what I have done.
I am flabbergasted ”
How did the baker allow himself to be fooled?
One of the girls shows in particular an authentic police card but also an armband and a replica of the weapon used by the police.
He ends up having a doubt all the same and calls the police station.
The investigators, thanks in particular to the video surveillance, do not take long to identify the members of the team, including two friends who live together two streets away.
This Friday afternoon, the 22-year-old policewoman and her accomplices display a low profile in the box of the defendants.
"I want to apologize," she blurted out.
I spoke to the OPJ
(Editor's note: judicial police officers, who questioned her)
and I realize what I did.
I am flabbergasted. ”
A few minutes earlier, the president had lost his temper: "Madam, do you realize the seriousness of the facts, having regard to respect for the law linked to your profession?"
The lies of the former saleswoman
The accomplices of the young woman also bow their heads.
This is the first time they have found themselves in court.
Only one of the girls is missing, victim of discomfort, explains the president.
According to the prosecution, it is the "cornerstone" of the band.
Former saleswoman in this bakery, she would have told her friends that her employer had touched her and had not paid her for months.
A slate of 10,000 euros.
It was wrong.
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“My client believed it and she felt distress in her girlfriend, argued Sabrina Scolari, the lawyer for the police.
Since November, she was in burnout, on medication, because of her job very complicated to manage.
She was manipulated and wanted to be of service. "
According to the prosecution, the former saleswoman would have been "insistent" with her friends to help her.
"You can imagine that there will be a disciplinary procedure"
Pre-trial detention was required for the security assistant as well as for the other two girls, because of the “risk of pressure on the victim”.
The young man, a delivery man from Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne) had only participated in the last extortion.
He too is "socially inserted", was surprised the magistrate of the prosecution.
"My custody and my time in court, it's not at all an experience that I want to relive," he pleaded.
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The four of them will be tried next month.
As for her career in the police, the security assistant can already give up on it.
"You can imagine that there will be a disciplinary procedure," the president modestly clarified.