Five young men were arrested in the Lyon region for stealing about 150 cars on the computer. They are accused
Five young men have been arrested in Loire and Rhone, suspected of stealing an on-board computer of about 150 cars of the same German brand in recent weeks.
Judgment to appear immediately
Three of the five suspects, aged between 17 and 20, including a Spanish national, were placed in overnight remand from Friday to Saturday. The other two were released under judicial supervision. “The two adults will be tried immediately,” the public prosecutor in Saint-Etienne told AFP. On Tuesday morning, the police arrested four of these people while they were returning from a “raid” in the Lyon region in possession of 24 electronic control systems.
Estimated losses between 10,000 and 15,000 euros
They are suspected of having committed the same type of theft on 146 vehicles in total, between August 6 and August 31, and were held in police custody for three days, with one of their alleged accomplices soon after. The Loire Administrative Security reports that the damage to the victims – from 10,000 to 15,000 euros to replace the device, depending on the model of the car – amounts to 1.8 million euros in total. The procedure was identical each time. The thieves entered the cabin by smashing a side window and severing and then cutting the central computer connections, rendering the vehicle unusable.
