“It was very shocking.” On Saturday morning, just before 8 a.m., an employee of a restaurant located next to the Pont-Cardinet metro station in Paris (XVIIe) witnessed the unthinkable. A Swiss-registered red Skoda arrived from Rue de Rome at high speed, overtook a van, and sped towards Boulevard Pereire. “He was going at least 100 km/h,” she estimates. At the corner of Rue Cardinet, he collided with a man. And didn’t stop. “He even accelerated afterwards,” continues the woman, who was due to be questioned this Sunday afternoon by investigators from the STJA (Judicial Treatment Service for Accidents) in their offices in the XIIIe arrondissement. The impact was so violent that the victim was thrown several tens of meters from the point of impact. There were no skid marks at the scene.
People who witnessed the tragedy rushed to the scene, called for help, performed CPR on the victim, and were assisted by firefighters from the Boursault barracks on Rue de Rome. The death of this man, believed to be in his forties according to our information and who was working at a construction site in the area, was declared at 9:02 a.m.
Meanwhile, the suspect tries to flee by taking Rue de Saussure. In this small street, he collides head-on with a car coming in the opposite direction. Following this frontal collision, the other driver suffers chest pains but refuses to be taken to the hospital by firefighters.
The fugitive abandons his car and flees on foot. A witness pursues him to keep him in sight and informs the arriving police officers of the direction he took. After running nearly 900 meters through the streets of the XVIIe, he enters a Monoprix on Avenue de Villiers and takes refuge in the back of the store, leaving the staff stunned. A manager monitors his movements on the store’s surveillance cameras. A few seconds later, police officers appear in the store and find him.
According to our information, he initially made incoherent statements and claimed that he was not the driver of the car in question. Most likely because he knew he tested positive for a potent mix of alcohol, cocaine, and THC, the cannabis molecule. Several vehicle registration papers, including that of the Skoda, were found on him. He was immediately placed in custody. The investigation was entrusted to the STJA. When contacted by Le Parisien, the Paris prosecutor’s office was unable to respond within the given timeframe.
In France, one in five fatal traffic accidents involves a driver who has consumed drugs before getting behind the wheel, resulting in an average of 700 deaths per year. Cocaine gives drivers who consume it a feeling of invincibility and the impression that they can outperform others. This issue was notably highlighted in the Palmade case.
