At least 26 people have been detained after violence in a Paris suburb following the alleged sexual assault of a suspect by police officers.

A police car was among a number of vehicles set alight and officers fired warning shots into the air after being surrounded by an angry crowd.

Several shops were reportedly damaged and litter bins were set ablaze in Aulnay-sous-Bois in the early hours of Tuesday.

Police Alliance union spokesman Frederic Lagache said an officer narrowly escaped being burned as a protester set his vehicle on fire with a Molotov cocktail.

"The objective is to kill cops and this is unacceptable," Mr Lagache told French media.


Hundreds of people had earlier marched in solidarity for the alleged victim, who has only been identified as Theo.

Image: Police lead the man away the after the alleged assault

A large crowd demonstrated in the suburb carrying banners demanding "Justice for Theo" while nearby someone had scrawled "Police, rapists" on a wall.

Local resident Sofiane Hajjobi, 21, said of the alleged assault: "Frankly, it's pathetic. The kid, he plays football. He never was in trouble with the police. It's not normal. We're all frustrated. Now we're at war with the police."

The 22-year-old was allegedly attacked with a baton during what police said was an ID check in Aulnay-sous-Bois last Thursday as part of an anti-drug trafficking operation.

The man was taken to hospital and has now been visited by President Francois Hollande.

One officer has been charged with rape and another three have been charged with assault.

Speaking to French television station BFM, Theo described being ordered by police to stand against a wall.

He said officers hit and racially insulted him. He claimed one of them took his truncheon and "rammed it into my buttocks".

Image: Marchers carry placards demanding 'justice for Theo'

Interior minister Bruno Le Roux confirmed on Sunday that all four officers had been suspended.

Frederic Gabet, a lawyer for the officer charged with rape, told Europe 1 radio that his client "had never wished at any time to cause any injury to the victim and that the blow had been carried out in a totally involuntary manner, without his being aware of any injury".

Yves Lefebvre, a police union chief, suggested the rape charge was filed "to calm or to stop a violent outburst" in the suburb.

Several clashes between officers and protesters occurred on Saturday and Sunday, centred on a housing estate known as City of 3,000.

An offshoot of the US group Black Lives Matter has seized on the case and helped organise protests in the wake of the alleged assault.

The march also follows the death of a 24-year-old in police custody in another Parisian suburb last year.

In 2005, the death of two teenagers who were electrocuted while hiding from police sparked weeks of riots and Aulnay-sous-Bois was among the worst hit areas.