A scene of rare violence disturbed the surroundings of the Vigneux-sur-Seine station (Essonne) last week.
A 32-year-old man punched an ASVP officer before chasing the municipal patrol with a knife.
He was able to be arrested and brought to justice.
The facts date back to Tuesday January 30, early in the afternoon.
ASVPs (public highway surveillance officers) are on patrol in front of Vigneux station.
They are on foot.
According to the information brought to our attention, a man then appears in front of them, speaks briefly in Arabic, then goes on his way.
“He turned around and gave an agent a big slap,” says LR mayor of Vigneux Thomas Chazal.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a long knife.
»
Slalom between cars
A blade of around twenty centimeters exhibited under the noses of the ASVP, who then understand the urgency of the situation.
The officials are then chased by the armed man.
“They tried to move him away from the station because there were people there,” continues the mayor.
Slaloming between the parked cars, the officers called for reinforcements from their colleagues from the municipal police, who quickly arrived on the scene.
One of them aims the attacker with his electric pulse gun.
He will not use it: the man with the knife is overpowered and then handcuffed by another municipal police officer.
Apart from the slapped ASVP, there were no injuries.
The rest takes place at the Montgeron police station, where the thirty-year-old is placed in police custody, then before the Évry-Courcouronnes criminal court where he is tried in immediate appearance.
The man did not explain his actions.
“His motivations remain unknown,” notes Thomas Chazal.
Did he resent the uniform?
Or to station users?
Mystery.
»
Wanted by German police
In any case, it appears that the attacker, an Algerian national present on French soil for a month according to his statements, was not known to the police services.
On the other hand, he was wanted by German justice for a case of attempted murder... Sentenced to three years in prison (including two years in prison) in France, the thirty-year-old was placed in the Palaiseau detention center (CRA), before his extradition expected towards Germany.
As for the officers attacked that day, they were able to return to duty three days later.
“There was psychological follow-up,” continues the mayor of Vigneux-sur-Seine.
They also benefit from functional protection.
» Unlike their colleagues in the “PM”, the ASVP do not have the right to carry weapons.
Those in Vigneux are equipped with bulletproof vests and blade-proof gloves.