Case of kidnapping solved in hours
These events occurred on Friday. A group of hooded men armed with a sledgehammer and tear gas canister, as well as a handgun, broke into a Gauchy house in Aisne in the early afternoon.
A press release issued by the judicial police to AFP stated that the suspects seized a 7 year-old boy "by force" in the presence his mother and other family members, before driving off in a car. The statement said that "the first elements of investigation suggested that the father (age 27 and known to police) was among those kidnappers."
Police used a "significant search device" to find one of the vehicles on the A7 motorway. It was travelling in a southerly direction. This vehicle was intercepted at the Villefranche-sur-Saone (Rhone) tollbooth, near Lyon, around 8:30 p.m. The Research and Intervention Brigades of Lyon and Dijon then released the child safe and sound and took his father and three accomplices into custody.
The four defendants, aged 27-36 and living in Marseille are all known to police. They were taken into custody. The judicial police stated that the child was "returned to his mother on the evening of July 8th."
