PARIS, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Two individuals were arrested on Thursday after a driver tried to drive his vehicle into a group of soldiers who were jogging in Isere department in southeastern France, news channel BFMTV reported.

A man was arrested at his home in Grenoble, some kilometers from Varces-Allieres-et-Risset where the incident took place, according to the report.

He was suspected of using a vehicle he had stolen to target off-duty soldiers from the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigad who were jogging outside their barrack.

The suspect had hurled insults to the soldiers before he returned to run them down minutes later, Pierre-Yves Sarzaud of the army's public relations unit told BFMTV.

French police also detained the car owner who, according to the report, had called police to denounce her alcoholic partner who had stolen her car.

An investigation is underway to determine the suspect's motives.

Thursday's incident came less than a week after a 25-year-old gunman who claimed being "a soldier of the Islamic State" killed four people and injured others south France, the first major terror attack since President Emmanuel Macron had removed the state of emergency imposed in the wake of 2015 Paris assaults.