To catch a thief: Masked man hunted after $136M Cannes jewel heist
CANNES, France - Police were looking Monday for a man in a mask who stole $53 million worth of diamonds and other jewels from a glamorous French Riviera hotel in one of Europe's biggest and boldest jewelry heists in recent years.
The audacious raid prompted one security expert to speculate that the notorious "Pink Panther" jewel thief gang was "on the warpath again."
The lone robber walked into the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes late morning Sunday and demanded to be handed several bags containing jewels and diamond-encrusted watches.
"Everything happened very quickly," a judicial source told Reuters, adding that there was no violence.
The hotel, a haunt of the rich and famous, was where Alfred Hitchcock filmed scenes from the 1955 film "To Catch a Thief", starring Cary Grant as burglar alongside Grace Kelly.
It was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.The heist came two months after two smaller jewelry robberies hit the annual Cannes film festival, where many of the world's top movie stars are lent gowns and gems to parade on the red carpets and at glamorous parties.
The crime follows recent jail escapes by Pink Panther gang members.
Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime, told The Associated Press that police would likely probe whether the heist is linked to the escapes.
On Thursday, gang member Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s.