French Comedian Pierre Palmade in Custody After Fatal Car Crash

Pierre Palmade was transferred on Wednesday to the hospital in Melun, Seine-et-Marne, and placed in a room guarded by police 24 hours a day. He must be heard by the investigators on the serious accident he caused. The police notified him of his custody for "involuntary manslaughter and injury" at the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital (Val-de-Marne) where he was admitted after the accident. He will be brought before the Melun judicial court on Thursday or Friday where his indictment and placement in pre-trial detention could be ordered, reports Le Parisien.

Investigators are trying to understand the causes of the accident that occurred on Friday evening on the opposite lane of the RD372 in Villiers-en-Bière, when the comedian crashed into the vehicle of a family of Turkish origin coming in the opposite direction, causing four serious injuries including a pregnant woman who lost the child. Did Pierre Palmade show negligence, lack of lucidity or was he disturbed by one of the two passengers, including a Moroccan? According to a toxicological examination, the three passengers of the vehicle had consumed drugs.

Pierre Palmade feels "ashamed" and "will assume all the consequences of his act," assures his sister in a statement. For now, he continues to be heard in his secured room to which only his lawyer, Me Céline Lasek, has access. The two other passengers, who had fled after the accident, were identified by the Melun prosecutor’s office and taken into custody on Wednesday for "failure to assist a person in danger". The first, a 33-year-old Moroccan named Mohcine E.-A and in an irregular situation, was arrested in the town of Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine). He has no criminal record.

The second, a certain Sambou G., 34 years old, turned himself in to the Melun police station. A French national, he is listed for drug-related offenses. A 38-year-old man and his 6-year-old son, as well as a 27-year-old pregnant woman, were the passengers of the vehicle hit by Pierre Palmade’s Peugeot 3008. The first two are still in intensive care. The woman, on the other hand, is safe and sound, but has lost her child. An expert assessment will be carried out to determine whether the baby was the victim of involuntary manslaughter.