French police arrest suspects in multimillion-dollar jewelry heist after Paris car chase

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Europe

French police arrest suspects in multimillion-dollar jewelry heist after Paris car chase



A French police officer stands in front of a Bulgari jewelry store at the Place Vendôme in Paris on Sept. 7 following a robbery there. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

By Andrew Jeong
Today at 4:09 a.m. EDT

Paris police took into custody at least two alleged armed robbers who tried to make away with a reported $11.6 million in jewelry from a Bulgari store in the French capital, according to law enforcement officials on Tuesday.

Three sharply dressed robbers, who were allegedly carrying firearms, entered the Bulgari boutique in the Place Vendôme in the late morning on Tuesday. They reportedly seized the jewelry before fleeing in a gray BMW. Four other accomplices left on scooters, Reuters reported.

Police officers chasing the robbers fired at the vehicle, causing them to flee on foot before being caught. Two people were arrested, the Paris Police Prefecture said. (Citing an unidentified police official, Reuters said that three people had been detained.) One person was shot in the leg before being arrested, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors are investigating the heist, and a search for the accomplices is underway.

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Tuesday’s incident comes after several jewelry stores in Paris were recently robbed. On July 27, a man stole jewelry worth up to $3.5 million from a Chaumet boutique; suspects were arrested the next day, and police said at the time that most of the stolen goods had been recovered.

Three days later, two men armed with an electric shotgun and tear gas seized around $470,000 in goods from a Dinh Van store.

The Place Vendôme, one of Paris’s most luxurious districts, has been a particular favorite of robbers. In 2018, five men hooded in ski masks and armed with axes stole millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry from a shop at the Ritz hotel.

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By Andrew Jeong
Andrew Jeong is a reporter for The Washington Post in its Seoul hub. Twitter https://twitter.com/hj257

[getagrip_already]

2. what is an electric shotgun?

That is a very strange description.

Ok, I looked it up. It has an internal battery that will operate solenoid based firing pins.
The trigger is just a switch; there is no mechanical connection between trigger and hammer.

Why? Because they could.....

[malaise]

3. I did wonder

Thanks