Two Louvre heist suspects a couple with children: prosecutor

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PARIS – Petty criminals are believed to be behind a spectacular jewel heist at the Louvre, Paris's chief prosecutor said Sunday, adding that two of the suspects were a couple with children.

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Last month, a gang of four raided the Louvre, the world's most visited art museum, in broad daylight, taking just seven minutes to steal an estimated $102 million worth of jewelry before escaping on high-powered scooters.

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The men parked a truck with a retractable ladder underneath the museum's Apollo Gallery, which housed the French crown jewels, climbed up, broke a window and used angle grinders to cut glass displays containing the treasure.

Two men suspected of being bettors who burst into the gallery while two of their accomplices waited outside were detained, charged and remanded in custody.

Prosecutors said Saturday that two other suspects, a man and a woman, were also charged and taken into custody. At least one other culprit remains at large, French officials said.

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The stolen jewelry was never returned.

On Sunday, Paris prosecutor Laure Becquo said the suspects, who lived in the French capital's grim northern suburbs, were believed to be petty criminals rather than members of organized crime gangs.

Their profiles do not correspond to those “usually associated with the highest echelons of organized crime,” Becquo told France Info.

Becquo said the 37-year-old man and 38-year-old woman charged Saturday were a couple and had children together.

They “deny any involvement,” Becquau said.

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The man “refused to make any statements,” the prosecutor added.

The man has been charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy, and his partner has been charged with being an accessory to organized theft and criminal conspiracy.

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The woman was in tears as she appeared in a Paris court on Saturday, saying she feared for her children and herself.

The pair were arrested after their DNA was found on a basket lift used during the robbery.

Prosecutors said “substantial” DNA evidence was found in the shopping cart elevator linking the man to the crime. Traces of his partner's DNA were also found, but they could have been there as a result of contact with a person or object, she added.

“All of this will need to be investigated,” Becquau said.

According to her, the man’s criminal record includes 11 convictions, most of which are for theft.

The first two men arrested earlier were also known to police as having committed thefts.

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