Cross-references are underway with two other armed robberies carried out in May 2022 and April 2023 in luxury jewelry stores in the heart of Paris.
A month after the spectacular robbery committed in the cozy salons of the Harry Winston jewelry store, avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement in Paris, investigators from the general investigations group of the banditry repression brigade (BRB) of the Parisian judicial police are still trying to trace the three robbers who acted in the blink of an eye and in broad daylight.
An accomplice stands guard in front of the business
On the day of the incident, it was 11:40 a.m. when three strangers, dressed in dark clothes and helmets, parked in front of the store of the famous American jeweler. According to information from BFMTV, one of the pilots crashed his two-wheeler into the entrance door of the jewelry store to allow two of his accomplices to rush in.
An employee and a customer can do nothing in front of these two robbers, also equipped with small axes, who break, in turn, nine display cases containing jewelry, rings, bracelets and necklaces set with diamonds.
The third accomplice stands guard, armed with a Kalashnikov-type assault rifle, and even issues the order to passers-by who come too close to change sidewalks.
The same man alerted his two accomplices when he saw two police officers, weapons in hand, going up rue Clément Marot, parallel to the store targeted by the armed robbery. The trio of robbers, back on their Honda scooter and a Yamaha motorcycle, a Tracer 900 model, quickly left the scene without being worried.
On their escape route, they come across other police officers in a car: one of the robbers points his assault rifle at them in order to keep them at bay.
“A team of professionals”
In less than ten minutes, the criminals managed to seize loot estimated at several million euros, without using their weapons, before disappearing in the direction of the Seine-Saint-Denis department.
The “signature of a team of professionals” in the words of a senior official.
Informed of the facts, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the counts of “organized gang theft”, “criminal conspiracy” and “violence against persons holding public authority with weapons in meetings”.
The BRB sleuths are particularly wondering about the robbers’ escape route and the use of a van to hide their two-wheelers and thus evade the police who are on their trail.
Still according to information from BFMTV, the same investigators are also making connections with two other robberies in the golden triangle of fine jewelry in Paris. Thefts committed according to an almost similar scenario.
Chanel and Bulgari stores victims of the same robbers?
The first facts date back to May 5, 2022, around 3 p.m., rue de la Paix in a Chanel boutique. Three men burst into the jewelry store before breaking several windows and stealing numerous jewelry.
A fourth criminal, AK-47 slung over his shoulder, stands guard outside. The quartet leaves the scene – perched on a powerful scooter and a motorbike – a few minutes after having got their hands on loot of almost two million euros.
A year later, less than 300 meters from this Chanel boutique, an identical attack occurred again.
On April 29, 2023, around 1:45 p.m., at number 23 Place Vendôme, a stone’s throw from the Ministry of Justice, three armed men attacked a Bulgari store. One of the thugs remains posted outside, armed with a long weapon, to prevent police intervention and dissuade passers-by from getting too close.
Inside the store, his associates operate in complete tranquility before coming out with their pockets full of valuable jewelry. The three suspects, one of whom is wearing an orange armband bearing the “Police” logo, flee on two motorcycles.
“In these two previous cases, the attitudes observed as well as the profiles of the robbers present many similarities,” says the same source. In these two cases, no arrests took place.
