Louvre Thieves Caught in Slow-Motion Getaway Via Service Elevator
This extraordinary escape of two thieves from the Louvre Museum clutching eighty-eight million euros worth of France's royal treasures was recorded on video, coming to light as the most recent dramatic twist in the country's most spectacular heist in decades.
The Revealing Video Footage
A 36-second clip, reportedly authenticated, shows two men clad in dark clothing, the first sporting a yellow hi-vis vest and the other a motorcycle helmet, slowly descending on a furniture lift from the museum's gallery of Apollo.
The footage suggests to have been recorded from a nearby window in the museum, facing the riverside avenue where the thieves had earlier parked a stolen truck with a 90-foot extendable ladder and basket lift that they used to reach the first-floor gallery.
"They are on scooters," an audible comment – possibly that of a museum guard – is heard to say, apparently into a radio. "They are going to leave, they are going to leave." Moments after, the men can be observed riding away on two scooters.
"They are leaving," the same voice then says, while a another speaker exclaims: "Damn, here it comes – the police."
The Audacious Heist Particulars
A pair of the criminal quartet forced entry into the gallery at 9.30am on the weekend, shortly after the museum its doors opened, smashing an seemingly unlocked window and then using angle grinders to breach a pair of showcases containing the precious items.
They made off with several items including an necklace of emeralds and diamonds that Emperor Napoleon gave his second wife, Marie Louise, and a tiara that once belonged to the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
Investigation and Security Failures
French media have estimated the robbery took under seven minutes, with the duo who went into the room present for just under four minutes. More than 100 investigators are said to be assigned to the investigation.
Interrogated by lawmakers, the director of the world’s most visited museum acknowledged a "terrible failure", stating there was "highly insufficient" surveillance of the outside walls of the enormous structure.
