The suspect of the violent assault Wednesday evening of the mayor of Villeneuve-de-Marc, in Isère, was arrested on Friday August 8 in the morning, announced the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, in a message on X. “The violence against our elected officials are intolerable and will never remain unpunished”added Mr. Retailleau. The suspect, on the run since the assault, was under a research mandate launched by the Vienna prosecutor’s office in an investigation for “attempted murder of the public authority”.
The man was arrested smoothly at 11:30 a.m. in Charantonnay (Isère), 14 kilometers from the assault, at Agence France-Presse (AFP) told a source close to the file. He was placed in police custody at the Saint-Jean-de-Bournay gendarmerie brigade, according to another source to AFP.
The facts took place in front of the home of the mayor of the town, Gilles Dussault, 63. The suspect, a village citizen, who has just under 1,200 inhabitants, “Resident in the longtime town”assaulted the mayor “With a stabbing weapon”. The elected official “Presents three wounds, including two to the thorax and a defensive wound”had specified the prosecution.
The attacker had left the scene before returning with his vehicle. “He then tried to hit the mayor and his son who came to help him, and finished his race against a wall, then fled on foot” After having punched the mayor who was trying to intercept him.
According to the first elements of the investigation, “A dispute had been opposed for several months the aggressor to the municipality for questions of town planning and work carried out by the latter without authorization”had explained the prosecution. An investigation for aggravated violence against the mayor’s son, hospitalized in Vienna, was also opened.