Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Marseilles Predators Hunt For Their Food... In French Shops

Marseilles is being victimized by a wave of predatory thieves who view life as particularly cheap, as thugs are increasingly willing to kill... for as little as a simple sandwich.

My translation of the report carried by the Southern French newspaper La Provence:

A box of pâté, a pack of butter cookies, a litre of red wine... In all, the customer hardly had anything of value in the basket that he tried to hide while passing through the check-out counter.

And it was to defend this pitiful snack that the thief, a 37-year old man, waved two knives under the nose of the cashier Friday morning, at the ED supermarket on Jules-Cantini Avenue in Marseilles.

Similar scenario a few hours later, as the staff had barely recovered from the [earlier] shock, a second pilfering took place that almost ended very badly. Around 8:00 pm, an individual who was caught in the act of shoplifting food products from the shelves, stabbed the security guard with a knife.

Struck in the lungs, the employee was transported to the hospital, and yesterday was out of danger. Robbed, assaulted, wounded for a piece of bread?
Lately, these unbelievable cases tend to multiply in the police registers. ...

A few days earlier, the waiter of "The Little Prince" snack bar, on Canebiere, was attacked with a knife by an individual who demanded, not cash from the till... but a simple merguez-frites sandwich.

The store has recently been the victim of a racket: a group of youths demand to be paid a ransom... in kebabs.
...

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