The facts took place on Friday around 9:15 p.m. while the two children, «a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were playing tag» on the esplanade in the Hauts Marcouville district in Pontoise, indicates the Departmental Security Directorate (DDSP) of Val-d’Oise.
The two children were hit by a motorcyclist who fled. The latter would be from the same neighborhood as the children, according to police sources.
An 18-year-old man came to the police station early Saturday afternoon and was taken into custody, according to the same sources.
The girl has «a head trauma with neurological sequelae», indicates a police source. She was taken to Necker Hospital in Paris.
The boy has a tibia-fibula fracture. He was first transported to Pontoise hospital but his condition deteriorated and was airlifted to Amiens hospital. “His condition has stabilized”, continues this source.
In the department of Val-d’Oise since the beginning of April, 534 interventions have been recorded for urban rodeos. Thirty-seven people were arrested and 34 motorcycles were seized, according to figures from the DDSP.
On June 8, a 19-year-old young man died after being hit by a motorcycle during an urban rodeo in Rennes.
A 2018 law strengthening the law against motorized rodeos provides for penalties of up to 5 years in prison for their perpetrators.