The British man who hit two police officers in France last week was arrested in Groot Bijgaarden on Friday, Gilles Blondeau of the Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor's office reported on Saturday.
The man is known to the British police as a serial con artist. The Netflix documentary ‘The puppet master’, which describes how scammers manipulate their victims, is reportedly based on him.
Police had marched to the home of the 51-year-old British man and his partner in Vidallat, in central France, last Thursday for a dog breeding check. At first, they only found his partner, but a little later the Briton arrived with his car.
When the officers asked for his papers, he accelerated and ran over two officers. Both officers landed on the hood and one of them suffered several fractures to the face.
Afterwards, there was no trace of the man. The road police of East Flanders found the man, who had been signalled and who was subject to a European arrest warrant, on Friday afternoon in the same car with which the collision had happened. The police were able to arrest him in Groot Bijgaarden.
The alleged con artist will be brought before the investigating judge, who will decide on his further arrest. After that, it is up to the council chamber to decide whether he will be transferred to France.
