The gendarmes of the research brigade suspect a man of being the author of a fire at the Verbus warehouse on August 20 in Labarthe-sur-Lèze, south of Toulouse. The damage is colossal, the damage is estimated at more than three million euros.
He is a man with a very particular profile. This 30-year-old suspected of having participated in several fires over the past two years in Haute-Garonne is currently in the premises of the gendarmerie in Muret. To make him confess, the soldiers are helped by a specialist in behavioral science from the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN).
This 30-year-old individual was present near the Verbus site, in Labarthe-sur-Lèze, on August 20. That day, 19 coaches were burned for an estimated damage of several million euros. The suspect would have himself alerted the emergency services before volunteering to extinguish part of the flames.
At 15, already suspected of a fire
At the time, no one had noticed this strange behavior, but the gendarmes had kept it in a corner of their minds. When the hearings of the manager and employees of Verbus were closed, the investigators were again interested in this Haut-Garonne. And his profile reveals a few surprises. At just 15 years old, the then teenager was suspected of having set fire to his parents’ house.
He dreams of becoming a volunteer firefighter
After this case, he was not noticed for fifteen years. Then around 2021, his name suddenly reappeared in other similar cases. Like this evening when he was having dinner with friends. Strangely, one of the bedrooms accidentally burned down. And there again, he prided himself on having given the alert.
In July 2021, ten buses were also set on fire in Saint-Lys, southwest of Toulouse. At the time, the units of the Toulouse-Mirail company had opened a criminal investigation without finding the culprit. Was he in the area at the time? Not impossible since he lives just a few kilometers away.
Another disturbing element: recently, the suspect would have tried to integrate the teams of voluntary firefighters but his profile was rejected.
Intrigued by all these clues, the gendarmes of the Muret company’s research brigade placed him in police custody on Tuesday. For the moment, they only question him about the Verdibus fire. But the hearings could lead to other revelations.
In the meantime, this man is not currently accused of any fact.