He tracked his victims, sometimes approached them, then attacked. Judged for the thefts of eight gold necklaces, committed between June 18 and July 23 in Montroug e, Eric D., 35, was sentenced this Friday to eighteen months in prison by the criminal court of Nanterre. On July 30, he had already been sentenced to twelve months in prison for similar assaults committed at Plessis-Robinson.
Although he denies it today, Eric D. seemed to select his victims carefully. “All have the same profile, noted the deputy prosecutor at the hearing this Friday. 81, 82, 88 or even 90-year-old retirees, unable to defend themselves ”. Elderly, frail and vulnerable women, whom the defendant spotted in buses, in the shelves of convenience stores in Montrouge or simply in the street.
A pleasant and courteous aggressor
Described by some victims as friendly, courteous and helpful, Eric D. offered to help them from time to time. To carry their tote, help them cross, or collect their mail. It was only after that that he grabbed and tore off their necklace, chain or pendant, before rushing to his receivers.
“It’s traumatic,” breathes Bernard *, the only man attacked by Eric D. We keep reliving the scene. Personally, I haven’t closed my eyes at night for two and a half months. “
Like the other victims, Bernard was assaulted in broad daylight and in the middle of the street. As he walked back to his home in Montrouge, a case of champagne under his arm, this 67-year-old retiree felt a man come up behind his back and tear off the gold chain he held so dear. “She had an emotional value, he laments. My parents gave it to me for my 30th birthday and since then I haven’t left it. Even for scuba diving… ”
The booty sold to street vendors
This gold chain estimated at nearly € 3,000, Bernard knows he will probably never see it again. Like the rest of Eric D.’s booty, it was sold, for a hundred euros, to traveling jewelry merchants who operate in certain streets of the Capital.
“I had no choice,” defends Eric D., undocumented migrants of Ivorian origin whose French office for the protection of refugees and stateless persons (OFPRA) rejected the asylum request. I found myself homeless after a family problem and my life changed. I had nowhere to go and needed the money to pay for a hotel room. “
