Paolo Falzone Trial: Neighbors Warned He Drove ‘Like a Madman’
MONS, Belgium — The trial of Paolo Falzone entered a new phase on Tuesday as witnesses testified that the 27-year-old was notorious in his neighborhood for driving recklessly, with one neighbor telling the court she had to keep her eight-year-old daughter out of the street whenever he drove by. The testimony came on the fourth week of proceedings at the Court of Assizes of Hainaut, held at Lotto Mons Expo to accommodate the massive scale of the case.
Falzone faces 7 counts of murder and 81 counts of attempted murder after his black BMW plowed into a group of carnival participants — known as “Gilles” — on Rue des Canadiens in Strépy-Bracquegnies on March 20, 2022, killing seven people and injuring dozens. His passenger, Antonino Falzone (no blood relation), is charged with failure to render assistance.
A Reputation for Recklessness
A local barber named Alfio, who had cut Falzone’s hair for years, told the court that residents regularly complained about the defendant’s driving. “He was well known in the area for driving fast forever,” Alfio testified, according to RTBF. “When I heard about an accident with a black BMW, I knew it was him.”
A neighbor with an eight-year-old daughter delivered particularly damning testimony. “We have an 8-year-old daughter, when he passed by, we were careful, because he had the habit of driving like a madman,” she told the court.
Another neighbor, a police officer by profession, said he felt like he was “reliving the Nice attack” when he arrived at the crash scene. He testified that a Messenger group had been created among neighbors to discuss Falzone’s dangerous driving, and that a neighborhood officer had been alerted.
Father’s Prophetic Warning
Perhaps the most chilling testimony came from a direct neighbor who described confronting Falzone about his driving. According to 7sur7, the neighbor recounted that Falzone’s own father had warned his son: “Stop driving like that. One day, you’ll kill someone.”
The Crash
On the morning of March 20, 2022, at approximately 5:00 AM, Falzone was driving his illegally modified BMW — whose engine had been reprogrammed to increase power from 292 to 355 horsepower — through the streets of Maurage and Strépy-Bracquegnies after a night at a nightclub. Witnesses estimated his speed at over 100 km/h (some reports say over 170 km/h) in a residential area when he struck the procession of 150-200 Gilles celebrating the return of carnival after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
Among the deceased were Michelina “Micheline” Imperiale, her husband Vito “Mario” Cascarano, their relative Salvatore, Frédéric D’Andrea — who clung to the BMW’s hood before being crushed — and Frédéric Cicero, an educator and football coach.
Safety Failures Under Scrutiny
The trial has also examined whether the Gilles society “Les Boute-En-Train” failed to deploy required safety marshals. Municipal regulations mandated that folkloric societies moving outside secured perimeters use “signaleurs” wearing fluorescent vests with flashing lights. The president of the society testified that these rules were not being followed at the time of the accident.
However, he added that even with marshals, the outcome would likely have been the same. “Now we put a car behind. But that day, I wonder if it would have changed much, because he would have pushed the car into the people,” he told the court, as reported by RTBF.
The Premeditation Question
A key legal question before the court is whether the killing of Frédéric D’Andrea constitutes murder with premeditation. D’Andrea survived the initial impact and clung to the hood of the BMW. The prosecution argues that Falzone had time to reflect and chose to accelerate, running over D’Andrea. The defense maintains that Falzone did not see the man on the hood.
The court has accepted adding questions on premeditation to the jury questionnaire, a significant legal development.
What’s Next
The trial, expected to last 6-8 weeks, will continue hearing testimony from survivors, experts, and the accused. In an unusual twist, proceedings will be interrupted in early June to accommodate the Erotic Salon at Lotto Mons Expo — a scheduling conflict that has drawn criticism from victims’ families, with a petition gathering over 5,000 signatures.
For the families of the seven victims and the dozens of survivors, the trial represents a long-awaited reckoning. As survivor Florian Devise, a Gille who suffered severe head trauma and epilepsy, told the court: “Fifty months ago, you shattered our lives.”