“But I was shopping at the supermarket!” Rodrigo does not budge before the criminal court of Toulouse. This driver in a hurry that the gendarmes saw “grilling” a Stop in the town of Seysses, on the morning of December 7 around 10:20 am, it was not him. Still not him who drove at breakneck speed in the center of this town, forcing workers to jump into a trench to avoid being hit! Still not him at the wheel of the car, a Seat Leon, which literally took off on a speed bump at the entrance to Frouzins as long as it was traveling at very high speed. CCTV footage attests to this. Of course not him who ended up in the ditch, a little further… The gendarmes had, then, long since abandoned the ambition to follow him, considering his behavior too dangerous. For him but especially for other users.

Only when a witness mentioned a car in the ditch, the soldiers quickly established a link between the driver and this abandoned vehicle. First checks and new surprise: license plates and serial number do not match. A very practical “doublette” to avoid fines… The investigations quickly made it possible to identify the owner, a 32-year-old mechanic. Very curiously, a witness had also observed two women and a man, who arrived in a Peugeot 3008 in the name of the wife of this professional, come to recover the belongings of the car stuck at the bottom of the ditch.

No license, no insurance, false plates and false certificate of transfer!

“But this car no longer belongs to me. I sold it 48 hours ago”, then pleaded the suspect arrested at the end of March, produced a certificate of transfer which the gendarmes quickly demonstrated that it was a fake. !

Between traffic offenses, his lack of license and insurance, aggravated refusal to comply, false plates, forgery and use, the future of this man looked bleak. And his criminal record which already bears the trace of fifteen mentions including thirteen for traffic offenses (!) did not help, especially not the anger of the prosecutor, determined to obtain the extension of a stay in prison started on March 30.

The defense then released a boring element. “At 10:17 a.m. and 30 seconds, his phone is at his home, in Plaisance-du-Touch. It is impossible to be in Seysses less than 3 minutes later, even when driving fast”, argues Me Brice Zanin. the lawyer, faithful to his client, asks for the release “for the benefit of the doubt”.

The court, and President Caroline Froehlicher, weighed the pros and cons. For, finally, a guilty decision but reduced to 10 months in prison (the prosecution claimed 12) and above all occurred at home under electronic bracelet. Hoping away from the steering wheels.