Authorities reported that a driver in Paris refused to stop when police asked him to, resulting in an early-morning chase across the southern part of the French city on Saturday, injuring 13 persons, including 10 French police officers, and damaging many vehicles.
According to the prosecution, the driver lost control of his vehicle during the several-kilometre-long pursuit, crashed into a traffic light, and was struck by three pursuing police cars.
The police prefecture said that the driver disobeyed police commands to halt during a police check in the 14th district of southern Paris at approximately 5:45 am (04:45 GMT).
Three police cars gave chase.
The defendant allegedly ran a red light.
The public prosecutor’s office reported that “three police vehicles then set off in pursuit of the vehicle for several kilometres.”
The prosecution hinted that at the time of the pursuit, the driver was suspected of being intoxicated.
The driver lost control of his car and struck a traffic light, according to the prosecution. “The three pursuing police vehicles then crashed into his vehicle,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
In a statement released on Saturday, March 22, 2025, the prefecture said that 10 police officers were hospitalised after suffering minor injuries in the accident that occurred in the 15th district, which is also located south of the French capital.
“The driver and two passengers were arrested and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” the statement read.
The Unsa-Police union shared a photo of the accident scene, showing a black car that was severely damaged and one police car perched atop it.
“A chilling image that testifies to the violence of the accident that occurred in Paris,” the labour group stated on X.
The head of Paris police, Laurent Nunez, praised “all the police officers mobilised during this intervention.”
