For Chantal Mermet, 53, her bar-tobacco was her whole life. For twenty-three years, she worked there 7 days a week, taking only one week of vacation per year. But last week, everything turned upside down. Her husband François, 55, injured a burglar who attacked the establishment in the middle of the night. Placed in police custody, he was indicted for "aggravated violence".
This Tuesday, June 2, day of deconfinement of bars and restaurants, should have been a day of celebration for Chantal. With the return of its customers. But ultimately, it will not reopen what was the only business in the village of Montrevel (Isère) and its 450 inhabitants. She even decided to sell her establishment. A real heartbreaker because, before her, it was her mother who ran this tobacco bar. “I have already been robbed six times in the past few years. Morally, it's hard to live in fear. So today, fed up, I stop. I am going to sell. I can no longer continue under these conditions. I of course support my husband. We treated him like a killer. We put the handcuffs on him. But we are victims. We must not reverse roles, "claims Chantal.
"Two shots are gone"
The fate of the Mermets changed during the night of May 25 to 26, around 1 a.m. Chantal hears noise on the ground floor, in the bar. She lives with her husband upstairs. The couple live in the family home of Chantal who was born here. François is awakened by his wife. He then goes down to the bar and sees an individual forcing a window.
“I went to get grandfather's old hunting rifle that I kept by the bed, for fear of being attacked. Four years ago, we had already had to put criminals on the run. Since then, we have been on the alert with my wife. I left the bar with the rifle. In the panic, two shots were fired involuntarily, in the air. I saw a car light up 20, 30 meters away. One of the three burglars then headed in my direction. He was holding something in his hand. I shot a third time to scare him away, still in the air, ”says François Mermet. The car of the criminals starts and disappears at night.
"I was treated like a killer"
At around 2:15 a.m., a young man of 21 came to a clinic in Roussillon. He was injured in the back by several pellets. The individual claims to have been shot during an altercation in the Drôme. But the gendarmes quickly made the link with the burglary of Montrevel. And in the morning, François Mermet is placed in police custody by the gendarmes. Justice has just opened an investigation for "attempted homicide".
“Being in police custody for 48 hours, spending a night in a cell when you have been robbed and you are a victim, it's very hard to live. I was brought back by the gendarmes in front of the bar-tabac to explain how things had happened. I was handcuffed, in front of the whole neighborhood. It was traumatic. I was treated like a killer ”, explains this man who works in the brushcutting sector in an agricultural environment.
"I made a mistake"
For justice, François Mermet was not necessarily directly threatened when he shot, the burglar was injured in the back. The Bourgoin-Jallieu prosecution will nevertheless drop the accusation of "attempted murder" and indict François Mermet for "aggravated violence". The latter is placed under judicial supervision. He says he is "destroyed", "annihilated" by this affair. "I made a mistake, I should not have used my weapon. In panic, fear, we do not know what goes through our heads. But it is thieves who should be punished. Not me. "
For Maître Fabien Rajon, his lawyer, “the victim is Mr. Mermet. And we intend to have it recognized by the courts by constituting a civil party in the burglary case of the tobacco bar where the injured burglar was indicted for theft at a break-in meeting ”. Already known to the justice system, this 21-year-old boy had just served a prison sentence in a drug case. During the burglary, he was only slightly injured and his ITT (Temporary incapacity for work) was assessed at 15 days.
A support committee was created
His accomplices are actively sought. In Montrevel, a support committee for François Mermet quickly came into being. And a petition has been launched. “This family is honorably known in the region. François and Chantal are workers who don't count their hours. They don't deserve what is happening to them, ”says Jocelyne Laurent, a resident. “I myself have already been robbed and robbed 11 times. We are a lot to live with this feeling of insecurity. I understand François Mermet's reaction, ”says Bernard Micoud, a trader from a neighboring village.
