HR with AFP –
Jean Alesi was taken into police custody on Monday as part of an investigation for degradation by the Nîmes prosecutor’s office, a source close to the case told TF1-LCI confirming information from The team. The facts took place in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, the city of Gard where the 57-year-old former Ferrari driver resides. The police were called Sunday around 10 p.m. by neighbors worried by the sound of an explosion. Thanks to the license plate number noted by a neighbor, the police were able to determine that the vehicle seen on the spot belonged to José Alesi, the brother of the ex-pilot, who was arrested.
The former Ferrari driver (1991-1995) then went to the police station on Monday, where he cleared his brother from customs, explaining that it was he who was in the car, with his son and a friend of that -this. He added that he himself had stuck a “big fireworks bought in Italy” in the frame of a window of the architect’s office of his brother-in-law, “without imagining causing such damage”, Nîmes deputy prosecutor Antoine Wolff told AFP.
Jean Alesi, who completed 13 seasons in Formula 1 for a grand-prix victory, explained that he only wanted to make a “bad joke” to his brother-in-law, in the process of separation from his sister, ensuring that he is not in dispute with him. The brother-in-law, who says he has “carefree” with Jean-Alesi, however, filed a complaint for the degradation of the frame of his window, said Antoine Wolff.
Jean Alesi’s son and his friend were also taken into police custody, in order to determine whether they were not complicit in this act. “I am quite skeptical of the notion of a ‘joke’ carried out at 10 p.m., without the person concerned knowing who it is, and everyone is heard to check if there is no other mobile “, added the deputy prosecutor.