A man suspected of being involved in the fire in mid-January of “La Rotonde”, a famous Parisian brasserie prized by President Emmanuel Macron, was placed in police custody on Friday, we learned from the Paris prosecutor’s office, confirming information from BFMTV.
The man, also suspected of being involved in an attempted fire outside the same establishment on January 9, was placed in police custody of the head of “deliberate damage by fire”, said the prosecution.
The restaurant La Rotonde ravaged by a fire
An investigation had been entrusted to the territorial security of Paris after a fire started on January 18 at night, on the closed terrace of this brasserie in the Montparnasse district in Paris, where Emmanuel Macron had celebrated his qualification for the second round of the presidential election in 2017 against Marine Le Pen.
A place often targeted
The fire was quickly contained. The investigators then immediately assured that “the criminal track was hardly in doubt”. Traces of oil had been found on the spot, confirming the voluntary act. A glove and a yellow vest were also found on the spot.
“On the video images, we see two guys trying to force open the door,” had deciphered a senior official of the Ministry of the Interior. “Then we see them breaking the window on the side, throwing what seems to be gasoline and setting fire to a sideboard on which are placed napkins”.
