A homeless robber followed a 73-year-old grandmother and her granddaughter into their home and violently hurled them into the street in an ‘attempted kidnapping‘ that has shocked France.
The elderly woman and the seven-year-old were dragged out of their house and sent crashing to the pavement by the attacker who had jammed his foot in the door to sneak in and grab his victims.
He then violently yanked the sobbing child to her feet, before throwing her aside as he grabbed some of the pensioner’s belongings.
The child can then be seen running back to her terrified grandmother, with the family dog appearing at the door which, prosecutors say, may have scared the attacker off.
The incident took place yesterday at around 5.30pm at Place de l’Europe, in the heart of Bordeaux.
The suspect, a homeless Frenchman who has not yet been named, was arrested an hour later, according to France’s CNEWS.
Police used an electroshock weapon during his arrest due to his agitated state.He was well known to police with around 15 previous convictions.
According to Bordeaux’s public prosecutor the grandmother said the man had tried to kidnap the girl but was eventually scared away by the barking dog.
A neighbour had provided officers with a description of a black Renault Clio the man escaped in and the suspect was arrested at about 6.30pm.
He was subdued before being taken to a police station where he revealed he was under ‘guardianship and psychological monitoring’, CNEWs reported.
A blood alcohol test was performed on the suspect and the results were negative.
The grandmother suffered injuries to her head, elbow and foot and will be monitored for four days while the young girl was said to have suffered cuts and bruises.
The Mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, said he was ‘extremely shocked’ by the attack but added: ‘The answers to be given are not simple: they are only simple for those who are looking for scapegoats […] I will not howl with the wolves, that is the easy solution.’
Government spokesperson Olivier Veran expressed his ‘strong emotion’ at the footage and condemned the ‘gratuitous violence’ which ‘illustrates the need for security for the French people’.
But the government also faced criticism from the right, with the attack coming after a mass stabbing at a children’s playground in the southeastern city of Annecy this month, carried out by a Syrian refugee.
‘These attacks are daily and the insecurity, aggravated by the migratory chaos, is becoming endemic. How many videos like this are needed before the authorities react?’ tweeted far-right National Rally (RN) figurehead Marine Le Pen.
‘What a horror. Bordeaux today. This is what they have done to our country. The French, wake up,’ said the far-right pundit turned politician Eric Zemmour.
