2 new suspects charged in the Louvre jewel heist : NPR

A black curtain hides the window through which thieves entered the Louvre museum in Paris, pictured on October 22, three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring broad daylight burglary.

Thibault Camus/AP

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Thibault Camus/AP

PARIS — Two other suspects were charged on Saturday in the case of the theft of the jewel of the Louvre, three days after their arrest. A total of four people are now detained and accused of stealing royal jewelry worth $100 million from the Paris museum two weeks ago.

Jewelry is still missing.

The prosecutor said in a statement Saturday that two of the five people arrested Wednesday had been charged. One of them, aged 37, believed to be part of the four-man team that police say carried out the robbery, has been charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau indicated that he was already known to the judicial authorities. The other, a 38-year-old woman, was charged with complicity in the preparation of the crime.

Two other men, also believed to be part of the quartet, were arrested a week ago. They were also accused of organized theft and criminal conspiracy.

The man and woman charged Saturday were found using DNA and cell phone records, the prosecutor said.

The other three people who were arrested but not charged this week have since been released.

The two new suspects deny any involvement in the crime.
Adrien Sorrentino, the 38-year-old’s lawyer, told reporters “she was devastated” by the accusations and disputed the accusations.

Among the two other suspects charged, one was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport where he was preparing to leave the country with a one-way ticket to Algeria. The other was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers. The first two suspects, who had criminal records for theft, were immediately placed under police surveillance when their DNA was found on objects left at the crime scene. The prosecutor said police were forced to arrest them prematurely because one of them was about to leave the country.

These two suspects “partially admitted” to the theft, according to Beccuau.

The brazen jewel heist, which took place in broad daylight, shocked France. The thieves pulled a moving truck equipped with an extendable ladder to a wing of the museum. Wearing reflective vests to look like maintenance workers, they climbed the ladder to the balcony of the Apollo Wing, broke the window and entered.

They used a circular saw to cut glass cases containing the jewelry. A Louvre guard filmed them during the theft. The men climb back down the ladder and flee at full speed on two motorcycles driven by the two other accomplices. The entire operation took less than 10 minutes.

In their chaotic rush to leave the scene of the crime, the thieves left behind numerous items: a motorcycle helmet, a circular saw, a glove, a can of gasoline, a walkie-talkie and a reflective vest.

Since their arrest, less than a week after the crime, a portrait of clumsy rather than sophisticated thieves has emerged.

The incident sparked a debate over security at the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum. Louvre director Laurence Des Cars, who testified before a parliamentary committee, acknowledged that only a third of the museum’s wings are under video surveillance and that the camera on the balcony where the thieves broke in was not pointed at the balcony.

Friday, Minister of Culture Rachida Dati unveiled the first results of an investigation carried out by cultural affairs inspectors. He was very critical, reporting what he called a “chronic and structural underestimation of the risks of intrusion and theft at the Louvre for 20 years”.

Catching up for lax security is quick police work. Many French people were impressed by their quick apprehension, including bookseller Karim Antille, whose book stand on the Seine is located directly opposite that fateful balcony.
“Our police are very strong,” he said. “It’s not good to steal, but don’t touch our cultural heritage.”

Many believe it is a race against time to find the jewels before they can be dismantled or taken out of the country, or both.
At a press conference on Wednesday, prosecutor Beccuau said she still hoped the jewels would be returned to the Louvre and the nation.