Tight security after a terror attack in Paris didn’t stop a brazen thief who robbed a jewelry store Friday — right across the street from the presidential palace, a police spokesman said.
The robber entered the Chopard boutique masked and armed around 11:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. ET) and left with jewels and watches worth about 1 million euros ($1.1 million), Yvan Assioma, a spokesman for the police union Alliance, told reporters.
Investigators were still gathering evidence at the store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which sits just across from the heavily guarded Elysée Palace. Police units in charge of securing the Elysée were unaware of the robbery, Assioma said.
Security was tightened in Paris following the November 13 terrorist attacks that left 130 people dead.
The thief didn’t fire any shots during the robbery, Assioma said, and police are still looking for the suspect.
In 2013, thieves stole a safe containing $1 million worth of Chopard jewelry from a hotel in Cannes, in southern France. A Chopard employee had put the items in the safe in her room. When she returned from dinner she discovered the safe had been unscrewed from the wall, police said.
