During a vehicle check on Brabantstraat in Schaarbeek (Brussels) on Saturday, a car deliberately drove into a police car at high speed. The officers were able to jump out of the way at the last moment, but the car crashed into their police vehicle causing considerable damage.
The driver was arrested on the spot. His motive is still unclear. ‘An investigating judge has been asked to issue an arrest warrant,’ the public prosecutor's office says.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the suspect has only been in Belgium for a short time. ‘His description was issued, because he is banned from entering French territory, where he has already been convicted of violent crimes,’ the press release adds.
The public prosecutor attended the local police station on Saturday night to express his support for the police. He also emphasised that violence against the police will be prosecuted systematically.
‘This attack against our police officers, who were simply doing their job, is unacceptable,’ Olivier Slosse, chief of the Brussels North police zone said after the attack. ‘The safety of our police officers is essential and crucial. Without this safety, our men and women in the field cannot carry out their duties in the service of the population.’
The officers involved will be unable to work for at least four days. ‘The police vehicle was severely damaged, which shows how violent the impact was,’ the police say. The suspect who drove his car into a police patrol in Schaarbeek had already been convicted of crimes of violence in France, according to the Brussels public prosecutor's office. The man is now suspected of attempted manslaughter.