A 9-year-old girl was injured Wednesday evening in Pontoise (Val-d’Oise) by the driver of a motocross who engaged in an urban rodeo. The suspect, aged around 18, was arrested shortly after the incident before being taken into custody at the local police station.
The police were called alongside the firefighters around 8:45 p.m., in the Cordeliers district, at the corner of rue Édouard-Martel and rue Rodin. They took care of the child who suffered from foot pain.
The first witnesses say that a young man, perched on this two-wheeler, was driving at breakneck speed in the street located near the city cemetery. A car came in front, forcing him to swerve. And it rolled over the foot of the child who was walking on the sidewalk in front of his home.
Arrested, he admitted the facts
His parents called the emergency services which quickly arrived on the spot as well as many police forces and the mayor. The young victim was taken to Pontoise hospital to undergo an X-ray and additional examinations. The doctor diagnosed a sprain. The child, who lives in the neighborhood with his family, was able to quickly leave the hospital center to return to his home.
The police conducted searches in the neighborhood before finding the machine and its driver, not far from there. This young man was arrested and he immediately admitted the facts. He was taken into custody for unintentional injuries and the prosecution will make a decision on his fate within the next 24 hours.
For the record, on Friday August 5, already in Pontoise, two children — a 7-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy — were run over rue des Hauts-de-Marcouville by a dark-coloured motocross bike.
The driver of the machine, 18 years old, had become a prisoner and this event led to a lively controversy on urban rodeos. Since then, the police have been on a war footing to fight against this phenomenon.