Jean-Luc, disheartened, sweeps the broken glass littering the ground at the foot of his car. “Everything is broken,” he sighs. The day before, he was informed by the building manager of an apartment on Bouchardon Street in the 10th arrondissement of Paris that an individual had broken into the 5-level underground parking and vandalized 16 vehicles. An investigation has been opened and entrusted to the police station in the 10th arrondissement.
On Tuesday evening, around 8:30 p.m., the police came to assess the damage. “There was even the forensic police,” Jean-Luc marvels. And the investigation might not take very long if the individual is already known to the authorities. According to Jean-Luc, the culprit must have injured himself while breaking the first window. “He left blood everywhere,” notes the victim, who has since filed a complaint. “He must not be very smart.”
“And look at my own car. There was blood all over the interior, even on the child’s seat,” he says, still holding the broom. “What do I do? Do I burn it now?” he jokes. On all 5 levels, there are several cars with open doors and broken windows. “It’s like no one cares,” Jean-Luc remarks. According to him, the culprit’s goal was to rummage through the cars and steal “whatever was lying around.”
“In the end, nothing very serious, but this is the third time this has happened in this parking lot,” he says. “There is a security problem.” According to the crime statistics published by the Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday, the number of “car thefts” increased by 4% nationwide in 2023 compared to 2022. However, in Paris, this number decreased by 1.05%, with 16,755 incidents in 2023 compared to 16,933 in 2022, averaging 46 car thefts per day last year.
