Paris prosecutors announced Sunday the first arrest of suspects in connection with the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre, a week after the heist at the world’s most visited museum.
The arrests took place on Saturday evening.
Here’s what we know about the timeline:
Thieves use a false pretext to steal a basket lift. Paris prosecutor Laurence Beccuau said they made an appointment with the company that owned the truck before leaving with it, using threats but no violence. The company filed a complaint for the theft in the town of Louvres, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Paris. The name has made many wonder whether it was a coincidence.
9 a.m.: The Louvre museum opens to visitors.
9:30 a.m.: Thieves dressed like renovation workers park the truck equipped with a freight lift – a common sight in Paris – on the sidewalk at the foot of the Louvre, on Quai François Mitterrand alongside the Seine River. They put traffic cones around the truck to simulate a maintenance operation. Two people climb a ladder to reach a balcony and gain entry through a window.
9:34 a.m.: The two thieves enter the south end of the Apollo Gallery. An alarm is triggered at the security control room. A staff member in the room makes a radio call to the command center members to alert them to the intruders.
9:35 a.m.: Robbers use disc cutters to neatly cut the glass of two display cases and take the jewels. Security officers direct visitors to evacuate, in line with requirements focused on crowd safety. The museum manager calls the nearby police station to report a theft in progress and request immediate assistance.
9:36 a.m.: A team leader at the command center activates a special button linked to Paris police headquarters.
9:37 a.m.: A message is sent to staff to request that all the museum’s doors be closed.
9:38 a.m.: The thieves leave via the same window and flee eastward with two other people waiting for them on two scooters. They leave behind a yellow jacket similar to those often worn by construction workers, along with other equipment, including a disc cutter. Culture Minister Rachida Dati said that security officers on site prevented one thief from setting fire to the truck with the freight lift.
10:34 a.m.: Dati announces on social media that "a robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum.”
Later that day: The emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, is found outside the museum. The thieves left with eight other objects of invaluable historic value.
The museum reopens. Beccuau, the prosecutor, says that about 100 investigators are working on the case, in addition to forensic experts analyzing surveillance footage and 150 samples taken from the basket lift, inside the museum, and from items found.
Beccuau says that investigators made arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Beccuau does not say whether any jewels have been recovered. She adds that investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests.
