At the age of 77, Jacques could have lost his life. In the darkness of a Toulouse parking lot, the retiree succeeded on Monday in controlling an armed thief who was attacking several vehicles, reports
La Dépêche
. His attacker was sentenced Thursday evening to 30 months in prison by the criminal court.
The events took place in the basement of the Saint-Cyprien car park, in the city center. Around 4 p.m., Jacques returned to his car when he noticed “
broken glass
” near his vehicle. Its window is completely broken. He then headed towards the exit to alert the supervisors but then saw a man damaging a second car. He then comes to meet her and very quickly, the situation degenerates. His interlocutor, a 52-year-old homeless man under the influence of Subutex, a drug similar to morphine, attacks him with a gun. “
He asked me for my money. I was alone in front of him. This adrenaline pushed me to act quickly. I didn't calculate anything. It was my survival instinct
,” explained the retiree at the bar, in comments reported by our colleagues.
Shot in the face
The two men then exchanged punches so that the homeless man fell to the ground. Jacques immediately picks up the weapon and hits him in the face with the rifle butt. “
I was afraid he would get back up and kill me
,” he justified. He controlled his attacker for several minutes by pressing on his neck, before a plainclothes gendarme, then the municipal police, took over. Facing the judges, the septuagenarian claimed to have never practiced combat sports and hated violence, but to have reacted to preserve his life. His attacker was finally sentenced to 30 months in prison with a committal warrant. For his part, Jacques said he hoped that his attacker would be able to “
heal himself
”.