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Particularly determined and methodical criminals, but with very meager loot despite the surge of violence.
The director of investigation of the PJ delivered the precise unfolding of the ordeal of a jeweler from Lyon, kidnapped and molested at his home in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or on December 21, 2020, before the Assize Court of the Rhône this Wednesday.
Three individuals in their thirties are accused of having committed this home-jacking in order to recover diamonds and banknotes.
Entering their victim's home at 2:40 a.m. by forcing the door and then the bay window of the single-storey house, they kept hitting the jeweler.
Alerted by the alarm and the teleoperator of his video surveillance system by telephone, the latter tried to flee before being caught.
He will then live half an hour of a "
rain of blows
", according to the investigation of the criminal brigade for the repression of banditry, which will leave him a broken rib.
This diamond dealer, known in Lyon and who has already been the subject of several extortion attempts, will describe the latter as the most violent.
Full barrel and large caliber
He recounted kicks, punches and butts as well as face-offs with Smith and Weston 44 revolvers.
"An impressive weapon whose caliber seems enormous"
, specifies the director of investigation, and whose victim explains that the malefactors extracted the ammunition from the barrel to show that they are real.
So real that the jeweler sees himself dying and recites his last prayer.
When found by the police, the weapon was not loaded.
At the home of the diamond dealer, the criminals, some wearing hoods and gloves, took turns threatening him while the others methodically searched the home.
“They showed a certain professionalism”,
describes the director of investigation.
In particular, they sprinkled the surfaces but also the victim with household liquid,
“which makes it possible to erase the DNA traces”
.
They recovered in passing an enclosure that they suspected to be a surveillance camera.
The criminals had also taken the precaution of using a vehicle stolen a few days earlier in Switzerland.
But this Clio, where a bag of 75 serflex was found in the glove box, was already marked by the police.
And for good reason, the investigators were following this team, some of whose members appeared in other files, in particular a particularly violent home jacking in Switzerland two months earlier.
Two of them had also spotted earlier in the day in the direction of the Swiss border, according to the investigation.
“They would have gone there to see girls”
, but were finally forced to return to Lyon after having an accident in their vehicle.
They would have decided a little later to go to the jeweler.
They will finally leave at 3:20 a.m., with some clothes, a telephone and a money clip with 250 euros, after tying up the victim with electric cables.
Chase on the banks of the Saône
In the meantime, the gendarmes arrived around the home and parked near the Clio, forcing the criminals to leave with their victim's Audi A3.
The latter will return to pick up the Clio a few minutes later to prevent their DNA traces from being recovered there.
Their description is given by the gendarmes to the Lyon police.
A patrol from Caluire descends on the quays of the Saône on the east bank.
While spinning, the driver of the Audi loses control of his vehicle and the Clio crashes into him.
The vehicles are destroyed, the men, who are wounded, flee on foot.
One is caught while trying to cross a fence where he impales his hand, the other stuck on a roof through which he tried to flee.
Taken down by the firefighters, he was arrested at the foot.
The searches will uncover weapons, including one fitted with a silencer.
At the opening of the hearing, the defendants admitted the facts but tried to minimize their involvement, in particular the use of the weapon and the anti-Semitic insults mentioned by the victim.
The latter mentioned several roles – that of a leader, a performer and a lieutenant – that the audience will try to shed light on.
The verdict is due Friday afternoon.
The defendants incur 30 years in prison, life for those who are in a state of recidivism.
