Le Figaro Nice
Twice during the night from Monday to Tuesday, the driver of a stolen car refused to comply in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), almost hitting police officers in a flight where he took all the risks. At this stage, this driver is still actively sought, we learned from the departmental public security directorate.
Around 2 a.m. on the Promenade des Anglais, police officers wanted to carry out a check but the individual, accompanied by a passenger, did not stop. A crew from the anti-crime brigade then chased the vehicle, first on the Pierre-Mathis expressway then onto the A8 motorway.
The driver
“stalled suddenly”
, says a police source, which allowed the officers to catch up with him. If the police managed to get the passenger (since taken into custody) out, the driver put up resistance and finally managed to free himself. He almost hit a first agent in his turn then deliberately rushed towards another who avoided the car in his mad rush just in time. This policewoman
“dived to avoid the impact”
, specifies another source.
Abandoned vehicle
The police then opened fire, in vain, the driver even taking the highway in the opposite direction. The vehicle was found abandoned a little later, but without the slightest trace of the driver. Beyond these facts, which caused no injuries, the fugitive would already be very unfavorably known to police and justice personnel, we are told. An investigation was opened by Departmental Security.
This refusal to comply with the targeted police officers echoes another, last week, near Le Cannet, a town near Cannes. On Friday, a 27-year-old Albanian national, without papers or permits, tried to escape, going so far as to crash into the motorcycles of municipal police officers. They ended up calling him out.
On March 19 in Nice, a wanted man also intentionally hit a police officer to escape arrest, especially since he was driving under the influence of drugs. Pending his trial, he has since been remanded in custody.