Marseille: A thief targeted elderly people with a cane or walking frame to steal their bank cards, sometimes violently.
A 36-year-old man, already known to the police, was arrested after a series of sometimes violent robberies on the Prado and Avenue de Mazargues, targeting particularly vulnerable elderly people. He was looking for an elderly person with a cane or even a walking frame. A modus operandi as despicable as it was rational, which he implemented in the 8th arrondissement of Marseille.
On July 8, the criminal struck shortly before 10 a.m. on Boulevard Michelet, spotting an elderly, clearly visually impaired man walking with a white cane alongside his wife. Following the couple into their building and then into the elevator, he pushed the woman aside and surrounded the 88-year-old man, long enough to grab his wallet. […]
On June 19, a 79-year-old man was jostled in a building lobby on Boulevard Michelet by a strangely familiar figure. The victim, who walked with a cane, fell to the ground, and the attacker initially pretended to help him by picking up his bag. But he had first stolen the bank card, which was used again contactless in shops shortly after the incident. […]
During a search of his home, also in the 8th arrondissement, a T-shirt identical to the one filmed during the attacks was found, and the young man, already known to the police, was taken into custody. Despite his denials, the suspect has since been brought before the courts and placed in pre-trial detention, awaiting trial before the Marseille Criminal Court, scheduled for September.
Fdesouche
