Jean-Hugues Anglade Attacked in Paris

On the basis of the concerns of friends of mine who live in Paris, I have become more and more shocked at the rise of violent crime there. There were always areas of the city in which you could find trouble, but in the past ten years especially, the rate of truly violent crime has been staggering. A case in point, from the AP wire, a favorite actor of mine (especially as the brilliantly unhinged King Charles IX in La reine Margot), Jean-Hugues Anglade, has been hospitalized after an attack right along the Seine, in an area where people used to walk safely at all hours of the day and night:

Jean-Hugues Anglade was hospitalized Monday at La Salpêtrière, in Paris, after having been mugged Sunday night on the banks of the Seine, we learned from François Frey, the actor's press contact. The 48-year-old actor was "savagely attacked by two people and a dog at around 10:30 pm on the Left Bank at the level of Notre-Dame as he was returning from dinner at a friend's house." Anglade, who lives in the 6th arrondissement [just across the river], was returning home on foot alone. He was pushed to the ground and then kicked repeatedly, especially in the face, according to his press contact.

The muggers took cash and a credit card from his wallet. American urbanites are used to this sort of crime in their cities, but the growing incidence of attacks like this is quite shocking to Parisians.