French police arrest 4th suspect in Paris rape, robbery

Man believed to have been involved in anti-Semitic attack on Jewish family earlier this month

French police arrested a man they suspect was involved in the rape and robbery of a Jewish family in a Paris suburb.

The suspect, who was not named, was apprehended Tuesday during a routine police inspection of his vehicle while he was driving in Saint-Etienne near Lyon, 340 miles southeast of the capital, Le Figaro reported. The report was based on police sources who spoke under condition of anonymity.

The man is believed to have participated in a break-in on Dec. 1 at the home of a Jewish family in Creteil along with two other individuals. The three are said to have targeted the home because they knew it belonged to Jews they thought were wealthy. A fourth suspect is in custody for his alleged involvement.

One of the men raped a 19-year-old woman they found in the house while another guarded her 21-year-old boyfriend and a third withdrew money from an ATM using credit cards they took from the couple, police investigators said.

The incident sparked outrage in France’s Jewish community and came amid a string of anti-Semitic attacks. The SPCJ watchdog on anti-Semitism recorded 527 attacks in France from Jan. 1 to July 31 of this year. In all of last year, SPCJ documented 423 incidents.

Police arrested two suspects in the break-in shortly after the incident and a third accomplice whose role has not yet been determined. The two suspects arrested earlier this month are awaiting trial for religiously-motivated assault, rape, conspiracy to commit a crime, extortion and several other charges.

The brutal case prompted France’s interior minister to vow to make the fight against anti-Semitism a “national cause.”

Bernard Cazeneuve said earlier this month: “We need to make the fight against racism and anti-Semitism a national cause by getting all bodies concerned involved.

Cazeneuve said anti-Semitic acts and threats have more than doubled in the past 10 months and called for the authorities to ensure that “none of them goes unpunished”.

“The Republic will defend you with all its force because, without you, it would no longer be the Republic,” he added, speaking at a rally in Creteil.