Rédoine Faïd (; born 10 May 1972) is a French

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and serial jailbreaker, considered France's most wanted criminal in 2013.

Biography

Faïd was born in

Creil Creil is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction. History Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belongin ...

to Algerian immigrant parents. In the mid-1990s, Faïd and Jean-Claude Bisel had led a criminal gang that was responsible for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, jewel theft, and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

in the Paris area. In 1997, seven of eight accused were tried for said charges (the eighth having fled to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

). Faïd spent three years on the run in Switzerland and the Palestinian Territories before being arrested in 1998. In his autobiography, he claimed to have disguised himself as an Orthodox Jew and learned

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

while in Israel, and that he was taught firearms skills by an Israeli soldier. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but was released on parole after serving ten years. In 2009 he wrote a book, '' Braqueur - Des cités au grand banditisme'', (''Robber - From the Projects'' ''to Organized Crime'') about growing up in a life of crime in Paris'

banlieue In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...

s, and claimed to have given up a life of crime. However, he was the suspected mastermind of an armed robbery that claimed the life of a policewoman in 2010, and subsequently was caught after he broke

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

conditions in 2011, which returned him to prison for eight years. Contra Mundum Press published an English translation of his book in 2020.

Prison escapes

2013

On the morning of 13 April 2013, he broke out of the Sequedin prison, using explosives to blast through five prison doors, holding four prison wardens

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

during the escape and employing the use of a getaway car. He then burned the car in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord ...

and left in another vehicle. The same day, a Europe-wide warrant was issued. Faïd was arrested again on 29 May 2013, in a B&B hotel in

Pontault-Combault Pontault-Combault () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Interpol stated that he had been trying to obtain forged documents to reach Israel.

2018

At around 11:30 am on 1 July 2018, Faïd was broken out of a prison in

Réau Réau () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Ferme de Galande Around 1881, sugar beet producer Arthur Brandin invested in a Decauville railway with eight horse-drawn tipping l ...

with the help of three armed accomplices and a helicopter. The helicopter had been hijacked from a nearby airfield by criminals posing as flight school students. At gunpoint, the flying instructor was forced to participate in the escape. The helicopter was later found not far from

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

, where it was believed he and the three men escaped by car,"Redoine Faid: Paris helicopter prison break for gangster"
BBC News, 1 July 2018 and the flight instructor released uninjured. French police focused primarily on a domestic manhunt, while also considering a potential lead that Faïd had fled abroad, with police cautioning that "beyond his charisma and aura, beyond the folklore, aïdis a dangerous individual." Three weeks following his escape, Faïd narrowly avoided recapture after being spotted by police near Paris. On 24 July 2018, police identified Faïd as one of two people inside a car observing a service station. As they moved in, the suspects fled towards

Sarcelles Sarcelles () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Sarcelles is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department and the seat of the arrondissement of Sarcelles. In the south of the comm ...

and managed to get away. The car was later found abandoned in a car park with plastic explosives inside. Prior to being apprehended, Faïd used a face-covering Islamic veil, (

burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...

) to move around in public spaces. Faïd was apprehended again in

on 3 October 2018, along with his brother and two other men. Weapons were seized during the police operation.

Media influence

Faïd has been influenced by American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...

s such as ''

Scarface Scarface may refer to: Gangster-related * ''Scarface'' (novel), a novel by Armitage Trail, loosely based on Capone's rise to power. ** ''Scarface'' (1932 film), a film starring Paul Muni ** ''Scarface'' (1983 film), a remake starring Al Pacin ...

'', ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunke ...

'' and ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

''. He reportedly told

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, director, screenwriter, and Film producer, producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include ...

, the director of ''Heat'' "You were my technical adviser". Faïd has also been compared to French bank robber and serial prison escapee

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made ...

(1936–1979), and has described Mesrine as one of his heroes.

Works

* Rédoine Faïd, ''Braqueur: Des cités au grand banditisme'' (Paris: Manufacture de Livres, 2010) * Rédoine Faïd, ''Outlaw: Author Armed & Dangerous'' (New York: Contra Mundum Press, 2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faid, Redoine 1972 births 20th-century French criminals 21st-century French criminals Escapees from French detention Fugitives French escapees French gangsters French male criminals Living people People from Creil