A 16-year-old boy of Turkish origin severely injured after colliding with a police car that rammed a patrol car into his motocross bike during a high-speed chase on Wednesday, according to the victim's family lawyer. The incident comes just over two months after police killed a teenager during a traffic stop near Paris.
The French government called for calm after the fatal incident.
Prosecutors said two officers were in custody pending a possible manslaughter investigation, adding that police said the teenager had failed to stop as instructed while riding along the pavement and, as he fled, had been hit by a police vehicle at a crossroads.
According to media reports, the first police car had received a radio message to stop the teenage boy on the bike, possibly for riding without a helmet. It is unclear whether the police car then tried to get the boy to stop or whether he immediately took flight upon seeing the car.
A little further on, at a crossroads, a second patrol car reportedly rammed into the boy, which was on its way back from another operation. As photographs suggest, the youth was hit with the side of the car.
In order to prevent possible riots, a 200-member elite unit of the riot police will be deployed in Elancourt on Thursday evening, BFMTV reported, citing police sources.
Wednesday's crash happened just over two months after police shot and killed at point-blank range a 17-year-old of North African descent at a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
That police killing sparked five days of riots and looting across the country, tapping a deep vein of resentment among France's suburban poor, particularly communities of immigrant descent who have long been subject to police violence and racial profiling.
A police union source said a squad from the elite CRS8 anti-riot unit was being deployed to Elancourt, the town in the Yvelines department west of the capital where the ramming occurred.
The teenager, who lawyer Yassine Bouzrou said was a dual French-Turkish national, was hospitalized after sustaining critical injuries at the scene.
Government spokesperson Olivier Veran claimed the investigations underway would determine the "exact circumstances" of the crash.
"Obviously I am calling for calm... I am calling for restraint and careful consideration," he urged on France Inter radio. "Regardless of how dramatic a situation is, it needs answers that we do not yet have."
The fatal police ramming occurred as France gears up to host the Rugby World Cup. The tournament, one of the major events on this year's international sporting calendar, kicks off on Friday near Paris.
