Thieves flee with “substantial” haul after robbing Paris jewellery store
Police officers stand next to Dinh Van jewelry store after a robbery in central Paris, France July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier reuters_tickers
This content was published on July 30, 2021 - 16:10
PARIS (Reuters) - Two people armed with a Taser and tear gas robbed a Dinh Van jewellery store in central Paris on Friday before fleeing on foot, two police sources said, with one of the sources saying as much as 2 million euros worth of goods was stolen.
The robbery comes days after a Chaumet store was held up close to the Champs-Elysee avenue. Robberies at jewellery stores in the French capital are not uncommon during the quieter summer months.
The two police sources said the robbers were carrying a Taser, tear gas and a hand gun. Dinh Van confirmed that their store in the Marais district was robbed, but said it was too early to say how much had been taken.
“We have from time to time a wave of these robberies” Yoann Moras, an official from police union Alliance, told BFM TV.
The Chaumet jewellery store was robbed on Tuesday with the assailant escaping on a scooter. Two suspects were later arrested with most of the roughly 2 million euros ($2.37 million) worth of jewellery recovered.
($1 = 0.8436 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Caroline Pailliez and Mimosa Spencer; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
‘Rolex Rippers’ strike southern England, police warn people to be vigilant
Two women in the south of Wales are prowling for men with high-value watches and jewellery nicknamed “Rolex Rippers”, the duo poses as charity workers. Carrying a clipboard they ask their victims to sign a petition and steal their valuables under the guise.
Following a spate of thefts of high-value watches and jewellery by these women who approach older men in the south of England, the public has been advised to be vigilant.
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The most common victims are lone men in their 70s who have been robbed of expensive watches in golf course parking lots.
While their SOP is posing as charity workers, occasionally, the thieves have been less subtle, and ripped off the watches from men’s wrists, leaving them shocked and bruised.
At least 14 incidents have been reported in affluent parts of southern England with incidents reported in Poole, Wimborne, Wareham, Ferndown, Highcliffe and Poundbury, Dorset in the last two months.
There hasn’t been a formal linking of the thefts yet, however, the Dorset police acknowledge “a number of incidents of the same nature”.
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In one case, a theft was committed in the parking lot of the Ferndown golf club, which charges £2,000 a year for their membership, while another theft occurred near a golf club in Poole.
One of the Rolex Rippers' victims, Alan Bruce, described the pair as “highly trained professionals.” On 15 July, Bruce, a 63-year-old marine engineer in Wimborne, was approached by the pair while walking in town.
The taller one was portraying that she was deaf and they sought signatures for a petition for a new deaf centre, he told Bournemouth News and Picture Service.
As per his description after he signed the petition one of the robbers, grabbed and embraced him, having put his hand on my wallet in his pocket, he shoved her away and walked away.
However, when he reached the corner he realised his £14,000 gold Rolex which he was wearing on his left hand was missing, by the time he rushed to the scene of the crime, the thieves were gone.
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Seven almost identical robberies have taken place across the border in Hampshire, over the past year, including two occurring in golf club parking lots.
A year back, in July 2020 Hampshire police had issued descriptions of two women who in a similar theft had mugged a 78-year-old man of his Rolex in Emsworth. Four similar thefts were reported at the time.
These women are described as being twenty-something or thirty-something, and being between 5ft 2in and 5ft 9in tall. While some victims have described them to be Spanish, others have said that they have dark hair and an accent from Eastern Europe.
Two Men Indicted For Robbing Jewelers Off-Premises
Victor Rivera, 30, and Johan Araujo, 40, have been indicted for allegedly committing at least 11 robberies, mostly of high-value watches from jewelers in the New York tri-state area, according to a news release from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
What makes these robberies particularly nasty—as well as rare—is that they didn’t occur in stores. The two suspects allegedly swiped watches from jewelers when they were eating, near their homes, and walking on the street, says John Kennedy, president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance (JSA).
The indictment charges that the armed duo robbed a jeweler in Brooklyn, N.Y., of a Patek Philippe watch worth over $160,000 and a diamond necklace worth over $77,000; stole a Richard Mille watch worth over $81,000 from a jeweler in Hoboken, N.J.; and nabbed a Richard Mille watch worth over $250,000 from a jeweler in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., among other robberies.
The suspects mostly targeted jewelers based in the Diamond District, but in one case, a nonjeweler was targeted after he showed off his expensive watch on social media, Kennedy says.
The easiest way for jewelers to avoid these crimes is to not wear expensive watches or jewelry in public, but Kennedy realizes that’s difficult advice for most to follow.
“We can’t say, ‘Don’t wear jewelry’—that’s ridiculous,” he says. “The advice we give is to be prudent. There are people on 47th Street who are very ostentatious. Everyone can see what they’re wearing.”
High-end watches in particular may pose “special risks,” JSA says.
The JSA has long recommended jewelers not conduct business in public, take precautions to avoid being followed, and follow proper security procedures at their homes.
The other piece of advice is a familiar one from JSA: If you are robbed, don’t resist.
In one incident that took place in March, a man was showing watches to a potential customer at a restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif. Three men tried to steal the watches by flashing a gun at the jeweler. The jeweler tried to grab the gun away. In the ensuing tussle, a nearby diner was shot. The woman’s injuries were not fatal. The three men have since been arrested.
Other rules to follow to avoid falling victim to a crime can be seen here and on the JSA website.
(Photo: Getty Images)