PARIS, France -- A smash-and-grab on a high end Paris store saw four robbers make off with jewelry and watches valued at over $2.6 million early Monday.
At around 4:30 a.m. local time (11.30 p.m. ET) the thieves rammed an SUV into the front of the Casty store, near the prestigious Place Vendome, a well-known square in the center of the French capital that is home to a number of jewelers and high-end stores.
After scooping up jewelry and watches estimated to be worth 2 million euros ($2.6 million) the thieves reversed their car out of the store and set fire to it before making off in another vehicle, Le Monde reported.
The raid comes little over a month after a masked bandit made off with an $136M worth of diamonds and jewels from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes on the glamorous French Riviera, in possibly the world’s biggest heist.
A lone robber entered through a French door at the side of the building on the famed La Croisette seafront, scooped up the loot and then jumped out of another window. Despite a huge police investigation, the audacious culprit remains at large.
Thieves also targeted the annual Cannes film festival, stealing almost $2 million of jewelry from the safe in the hotel room of an American jeweler working for Chopard, one of Switzerland’s most famous diamond merchants.
Days later a $2.5 million necklace was lifted by a crook at a movie industry party at the even more exclusive resort of Cap d’Antibes, near the Italian border.
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