A serial and chain thief, the 43-year-old Algerian was finally placed in pre-trial detention in Montpellier

L’individu a été interpellé coup sur coup par la police. Illustration Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

The forty-year-old always operated in the same way, committing petty thefts against employees of Montpellier businesses.

Hardly released, he reiterates. The story may make you smile but it earned him detention. A 43-year-old Algerian who lives in Montpellier went to a restaurant on rue Jules-Latreilhe, behind the Saint-Roch church on Saturday March 30 around 11 a.m. ;15.

Target employees

He then tried to steal something from an employee's bag which was on the counter and was caught red-handed by the restaurant staff. The man was held in the establishment until the police arrived.

He was then arrested for attempted theft. The man is known to the police and is taken into police custody. He was released a few hours later around 6 p.m. with a COPJ (summons by a judicial police officer) which scheduled a hearing before the court for next July 4.

The affair could have ended there, but two days after his custody, he returned with the same procedure.

Rebelote two days later

On Monday April 1st around 4:30 p.m., still in the same neighborhood, he stole the cell phone – yet stored in a drawer – belonging to an employee of a store located rue de l’Ancien Courrier before fleeing.

The police are notified and quickly find him thanks to the report. He is arrested again. He was taken into police custody and was brought back on Tuesday April 2 at 2 p.m. before being placed in pre-trial detention pending trial.