Thirteen individuals, including ten police officers from France, sustained injuries and multiple vehicles were damaged after a driver ignored a police request to pull over in Paris, leading to a pursuit in the early hours of the morning through the southern part of the city, officials reported.
The car chase, which covered several kilometers, concluded with the driver losing control of the vehicle, crashing into a traffic light, and three police cars colliding with his vehicle, according to prosecutors.
During a police checkpoint around 5:45 AM (4:45 AM Irish time) in the 14th district of southern Paris, the driver disobeyed police orders to stop, stated the police prefecture.
Three police cars initiated the chase.
“Three police vehicles then pursued the car for several kilometers,” the public prosecutor’s office reported.
Un énième #refusdobtempérer qui a mis en danger la vie de nos collègues et celle de toutes les personnes croisées par ce chauffard. Une image glaçante qui témoigne de la violence de l’accident survenu à Paris. L’UNSA Police se tient aux côtés de nos collègues et leur souhaite un… pic.twitter.com/hudVVw9fye
— UNSA POLICE (@UNSAPOLICE) March 22, 2025
Prosecutors believe the driver may have been under the influence during the chase.
The driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a traffic light, with three police cars subsequently colliding with his vehicle, as stated by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
As a result of the incident in the 15th district, also located in the south of the French capital, ten police officers sustained minor injuries and were taken to the hospital, according to a statement from the prefecture.
“The driver and two passengers were arrested and transported to a hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening,” the statement indicated.
The Unsa-Police union shared a photo depicting the aftermath of the crash, showing one police vehicle on top of a severely damaged black car.
“A chilling image that illustrates the severity of the accident that occurred in Paris,” the union remarked on X.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez expressed gratitude to “all the police officers involved during this operation.”
