A seven-year-old child was kidnapped on Friday in Gauchy (Aisne) then found and released at the Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône) tollbooth by the police, who placed four people, including the child's father, in custody. sight, she announced on Saturday.
Early Friday afternoon, "
several hooded individuals (...) armed with a sledgehammer, a tear gas canister and a handgun according to the first testimonies
" burst into Gauchy's house where lived this child, according to a press release issued by the zonal direction of the North judicial police.
These individuals seized the child "
by force
" in the presence of his mother and members of his family, before fleeing with a vehicle.
"
The first elements of the investigation suggested that the father of the child (aged 27 and known to the police) was among the kidnappers
," the statement continued.
The deployment of a "
significant search device
" and technical checks enabled the police to locate one of the vehicles involved on the A7 motorway, where it was traveling in a southerly direction, then to intercept it, around 8:30 p.m. .
The Research and Intervention Brigades (BRI) of Dijon and Lyon then released the child "
safe and sound
" and arrested his father as well as three alleged accomplices.
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Aged 27 to 36 and living in Marseille, the four defendants are all known to the police.
They were remanded in custody.
"
The child was returned to his mother on July 8 in the evening
," said the judicial police.