Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Paris Prosecutors on Sunday announced the first arrests of suspects in connection with the theft of the crown jewels louvreA week after the robbery at the world’s most visited museum.
These arrests took place on Saturday evening.
Here’s what we know about the timeline:
10 October
Thieves use false pretenses to steal basket lifts. Paris prosecutor Laurence Baccu said he made an appointment with the company that owned the truck before abandoning it, using threats but no violence. The company filed a complaint of theft in the city of Louvres, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Paris. The name has led many to wonder whether it was a coincidence.
19 October
9 am: Louvre Museum opens for visitors.
9:30 a.m.: Thieves dressed like renovation workers parked a truck equipped with a freight elevator – a common sight in Paris – on the sidewalk at the foot of the Louvre, next to the Quai François Mitterrand. this is the riverThey placed traffic cones around the truck to simulate maintenance work. Two people climb a ladder to reach the balcony and enter through the window.
9:34 am: Two thieves enter the south end of the Apollo Gallery. An alarm goes off in the security control room. A staff member in the room makes a radio call to alert members of the command center to the intruders.
9:35 am: The robbers neatly cut the glass of two display cases using a disc cutter and took away the jewellery. Security officers evacuate visitors, in line with requirements that focus on crowd safety. The museum manager calls the nearby police station to report the theft and seeks immediate help.
9:36 am: A team leader in the command center activates a special button linked to Paris police headquarters.
9:37 am: A message was sent to staff requesting that all doors to the museum be closed.
9:38 am: The thieves climb out the same window and flee east with two others waiting for them on two scooters. They leave behind a yellow jacket, similar to the jackets often worn by construction workers and other equipment, including disc cutters. Culture Minister Rachida Dati said security officers present at the scene stopped a thief from setting fire to a truck carrying a cargo lift.
10:34 am: Dati announced on social media that “a robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.”
Later that day: The emerald-studded imperial tiara of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, is found outside the museum. The thieves took away eight other items of invaluable historical value.
22 October
The museum reopened. Prosecutor Becu says about 100 investigators are working on the case in addition to forensic experts, who are analyzing surveillance footage and 150 samples taken from the basket elevators, objects found inside the museum.
26 October
Becu says investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the detained men was preparing to leave the country at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Becuau did not say whether any jewelry was recovered. She adds that investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, aggravated burglaries and art theft made the arrests.