Federal judicial police in Halle-Vilvoorde arrested two men on Monday morning on suspicion of carrying out dozens of burglaries across Belgium, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
One of the suspects tried to escape by jumping from the Haren-Sud railway bridge. Rail traffic between Schaerbeek and Diegem was temporarily suspended for part of Monday morning as a result.
The man was taken to hospital and was to be questioned at a later stage.
The investigation began after local police in the Vilvoorde-Machelen (Vi-Ma) area found that several burglaries appeared to be linked to the same criminal gang.
According to prosecutors, the group systematically used stolen vehicles to travel to burglary sites. The cars were used over several consecutive nights before being abandoned and replaced with other stolen vehicles.
The case moved forward in recent days when officers from the ViMa police zone located one of the vehicles in Diegem during the night of 29 to 30 August.
That discovery prompted the federal judicial police in Halle-Vilvoorde to open an investigation, which led to the identification and arrest of the suspects.
The prosecutor’s office said both suspects live in the Brussels area.
