Le Figaro Nantes
Three men, accused of having stolen from the elderly by pretending to be fake police officers, were presented to the Nantes prosecutor's office on Friday.
Between July 25 and October 20, they would have committed fifteen acts, with victims born between 1925 and 1932, always according to the same modus operandi: "
individuals pass themselves off as police officers, manage to return home of elderly people, and steal a number of things inside
, "explained the public prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul, during a press conference.
To do this, the perpetrators made fake government officials' cards and sometimes wore a police armband.
They operated in the municipalities of Nantes, La Turballe, La Baule, Pornichet, Guérande, Haute-Goulaine, Sainte-Luce-sur-Loire, Chalonnes-sur-Loire and stole "
cash, jewelry, and a weapon of rifle type
,” said Colonel Peresse, commander of the Nantes research section.
Already known to law enforcement
The investigations began in early October, when a police armband was found near the home of a victim.
Analyzes were then carried out.
The gendarmes locate an individual already known to the police.
A little later, the police find DNA on the clothing of another victim.
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These operations led to the custody, Wednesday, November 23, of the three men, including a father and his son, aged 55 and 31, and one of their relatives, 34, "
member of the same itinerant French community
".
They were arrested for one at the La Chapelle-sur-Erdre traveler area, for another in the Vieux-Doulon district, in Nantes, and the last in a semi-freedom center.
All asserted their right to silence.
The trio, whose prosecution has requested pre-trial detention, faces twenty years in prison.
The father has 21 convictions on his criminal record, his son 9, and the last 21. Their judgment should take place on January 24, 2023 according to the delayed appearance procedure for thefts aggravated by three circumstances: "
having unduly taken the quality of a person holding public authority, in a meeting, and in a dwelling by entering it by trickery
”.