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The two men suspected of the robbery of a watchmaker in Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel were put under examination and placed in pre-trial detention this Saturday.
Warned by their Swiss counterparts, the Doubs police had spotted and pursued the vehicle which had ended up in a dead end in Pontarlier.
AFP
The two suspects arrested in the Doubs after a hostage-taking Thursday evening in a watchmaker in Switzerland were indicted and remanded in custody on Saturday, said the prosecution of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Nancy.
A judicial investigation was opened for “crimes of extortion with an organized gang weapon and attempted murder on a person holding authority” as well as several other “violent crimes” committed in France and Switzerland, specified the JIRS in a report. communicated. The two suspects had tried Thursday evening in Locle, Switzerland, near the French border, to rob the coffers of a watch company, after having taken four people hostage, according to the statement.
A “silent alarm” had been triggered, launching a police operation, said the Swiss public prosecutor and the Neuchâtel police. “Surprised by the arrival of a security guard”, the criminals then fled without taking any loot, after stealing a car, said Nancy JIRS. Warned by their Swiss counterparts, the Doubs police had spotted and pursued the vehicle which had ended up in a dead end in Pontarlier. “The stolen BMW struck with great force the police vehicle, which retreated 10 meters”, explained the prosecution of Besançon, which has since relinquished the case in favor of that of Nancy.
A policeman had “pulled out his submachine gun and [avait] emptied the 30 ammunition from its magazine exclusively on the engine block to stop the vehicle ”, as well as four ammunition in the rear window of the car with a handgun to finally succeed in stopping and arresting these suspects“ hooded and armed ”without injure them, according to the public prosecutor of Besançon. One of them was in possession of “an automatic pistol ready for use” and the investigation is continuing “in close collaboration with the Swiss authorities of the canton of Neufchâtel”, also indicated the magistrates of Nancy.
Aged 35 and 45, these criminals from the Rhône-Alpes region have “already been convicted of numerous violent crimes”, added the JIRS. The oldest was released from prison in 2020 after a conviction, in the Loire, to 25 years of criminal imprisonment, of which two-thirds of safety, for assassination.
(AFP)