A former policeman with a love of urban exploration was jailed for six months for attempted burglary at Foix Crown Court on Tuesday (September 3) after he was caught trying to break into the home of an 88-year-old woman in the middle of the night. . years in Saverdun, in Ariège.
The case coming before Foix court on Tuesday, September 3, begins around ten days earlier, on August 23, at 4:20 a.m., when Josette*, an 88-year-old woman from Saverdun, called the gendarmes for an attempt of theft. A few minutes earlier, she was awakened by violent knocking at the door of her house near the Champ de Mars. After shouting from the window in the hope of alerting her sister-in-law who lives next door, without success, she ended up calling 5 p.m.
Arriving at the scene, the soldiers found a fenced house, the gate closed, but the door even showed very clear traces of weighing. Josette, unfortunately, did not observe any suspicious person or vehicle, and the neighborhood investigation yielded no further results. However, video surveillance installed in the Champ de Mars parking lot recorded the arrival of a gray utility vehicle at 3:57 am, from which three individuals got out, one of whom was holding a crowbar. After going around the house, they scaled the fence at 4:05am before being filmed fleeing towards Toulouse.
Hiding at home, barefoot in a car
If the number plate is illegible, a search of fined vehicles in the area draws the attention of investigators to a Kangoo flashed at 4.13am in Cintegabelle, a few kilometers away, a car already flashed five times in the previous days, always in the middle of the night. Its driver is soon identified: Florian*, a 32-year-old from Audois whose phone was actually in Saverdun that night.
When the gendarmes came to his home on August 28, his wife claimed she did not know where he was. The gendarmes discovered him at home, hiding barefoot in a car, phone in hand. In his garage, three crowbars, a crowbar, 7,000 euros in change, jewelry, weapons, several vehicles… and 89 pots of cannabis. And although the log on his phone was deleted, investigators still found screenshots of home locations and trips, as well as a photo of two funny men looking at a safe with a grinder.
Plausible, but not convincing
Florian readily admits that he went to Saverdun that night, but with no bad intention: a fan of urban exploration, or urbex, he would have come to Ariège with only two friends, Pedro* and Steevy*, to visit abandoned houses. And if he went around Josette's house, losing sight of his companions, he claims he left with them after hearing the shots and refused to go any further – but not the old woman's cries.
Always plausible, never convincing, his explanations from the stand only raise new questions. “I thought the house was abandoned,” he begins, not responding when the president points out the overall good condition of the place. Pedro and Steevy? Simple knowledge, he assures. However, they are the ones who cut out the safe from the photo found in his phone, a safe they allegedly found in his home, purchased a few months earlier.
Money, jewelry? Among his many hobbies, Florian also practices metal detecting. The eight vehicles found at his home? He was renovating 2 CVs and was thinking of offering some cars for rent. The ranges? “I'm a mechanic, I have a lot of tools.” The reason why he deleted the log from the phone? Too many calls. “Don't tell me you're called to be prime minister?” jokes the president.
“The Lord is a butt, the Lord knows how to do everything”
His personal situation is no clearer. A former policeman removed from the management, former head of the workshop, is also a mechanic, farmer, collector… “The gentleman is a butt, the gentleman knows how to do everything”, sums up the prosecutor, who does not fail to emphasize the implausibility of his explanations. He is therefore asking for 9 months of continuous detention, three of which are suspended, as well as a ban on appearing in Ariège.
The defense, for its part, draws attention to the clean criminal record of its client, “salam” to a file that would be above all a drug file and the many flaws of the investigation: unidentified associates although the faces are known, DNA. unfulfilled readings, missing checks on weapons, jewelry… A “bizarre passion” on the one hand, an “offense fantasy” on the other: “What does it mean to us, apart from our questions?
The argument is valid, at least in part. Florian is convicted of attempted theft in a meeting, but only receives six months in prison, which he will serve under an electronic bracelet.