Christmas was canceled for many in France due to a variety of robberies, arson and knife attacks, and acts of property destruction in various locations across the country.
Thieves stole hundreds of thousands worth of Christmas presents
A trio of car and package thieves, operating in the Melun Val de Seine district in France, produced hundreds of thousands of euros in damage and deprived families of their Christmas presents. The team, which is aged between 19 and 21, stole 11 containers containing Christmas presents waiting to be delivered on the night of Dec. 14 to 15 from Chronopost. They also stole two delivery vans belonging to the delivery company in Brie-Comte-Robert.
However, the group was only caught on Dec. 19 near the Rougeau forest in Seine-et-Marne after a public highway officer spotted them driving a stolen Renault Megane vehicle. When the officer tried to pull them over, a high-speed chase ensued that went as far as Essonne when the three men ran out of fuel. They were arrested by specialized police forces, according to Actu.fr.
Inside the vehicle, they found crowbars and the keys to five other stolen vehicles that were taken from a dealership in Cesson on Dec. 15 and 16, which means the thieves hit the dealership right after their Christmas present theft.
“They were very active and a significant amount of telephone communication (between police) allowed them to be caught in other cases committed the night before,” said a police source. At first, the suspects denied the thefts, but they actually filmed themselves putting on balaclavas right before the thefts, which the police confronted them with.
“They ended up at least admitting to the facts,” said the police source.
Two are awaiting criminal trial, while the third is under judicial supervision.
Violent repeat offender terrorizes store day after Christmas
The day after Christmas, repeat offender 53-year-old Mustafa Bessam robbed a manager at the Obral Déstockage, a store on Avenue des Prés-le-Roi in Bourges right at the store opened. The man pulled out a box-cutter and threatened the manager. He stole a bottle of rosé and fled the scene. Although he was caught by the manager, the police did not respond to his calls for backup, and the man fled.
Mustafa Bessam has 43 convictions over the course of 30 years and was charged with violence with the use of a weapon and theft in the latest case. The Bourges criminal court sentenced him to thirty months in prison, six of which are suspended, according to Le Berry Republican. His first conviction for violence was in 1994.
However, the man returned at 5 p.m. and intimidated customers with his weapon, at which time, the man was this time tackled and arrested. Police arrived on scene to take him into custody.
Truck full of charity Christmas presents stolen and vandalized
Thieves not only stole charity Christmas presents from an association that set up a special grocery store to provide food to the elderly and homeless every month since 2020, but they also destroyed the truck.
On the night of Dec. 19, a truck loaded with Christmas charity packages was stolen on the rue Paul Marcelin in Vaulx-en-Velin. The organization, ASAV solidarity grocery store, was alerted that the truck was found abandoned in a parking lot in the same town, but had suffered extensive damage, according to Le Progress.
A complaint was filed by the police station, with the president of the association, Mohamed Zaiani, stating it was “really sad because in addition to stealing products, they broke the truck.”
Christmas nativity goes up in flames
On the night of Dec. 27, there was a suspected arson attack that destroyed a nativity scene at the market hall of La Roque-Gageac in Dordogne. The nativity scene was installed every Christmas for about 20 years, and the mayor, Jérôme Peyrat, said it was “a remarkable work…designed by a craftsman from the town,”
Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading further in the market, according to Sud Oue
“Secularism very poorly understood? Violence against a Christian symbol? Gross imbecility? A bit of all that? Whatever the real question, it will find the same answer,” said Jérôme Peyrat, who announced that he will file a criminal complaint.
He also announced a new nativity scene will be built: “We will not let ourselves be impressed and will preserve our traditions and our values,” he wrote.
Jesus statue robbed from cemetery
A theft targeting bronze Jesus statues occurred over the Christmas holidays in a cemetery located in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, a time when the cemetery is less busy.
As the French newspaper Progress notes, Christian believers see the theft of Jesus statues on this symbolic day as a desecration.
“We redirected complaints to the town hall, which manages the cemetery. Thefts in cemeteries are not new, but this is the first time we have had one of this magnitude here,” a cemetery employee said.
The French newspaper also notes that these thefts “required an expert hand, since tools are needed to be able to detach the religious figure from its cross. Only the bronze Jesuses were removed. Thefts of these metals are frequent in cemeteries, by unscrupulous looters who then resell them.”
One family who was visiting their loved one noticed a large number of Jesus statues missing from tombs across the cemetery.
Police arrived on scene and recorded the crime, but the Progress reports the “couple is hurt by this damage, resents the municipality for not locking the entrance gate at night, and considers that it is simply desecration. They have notified the police and will file a complaint.”
These are a just short sampling of some of the incidents that happened around France during the holiday season.
