Paris police are on the hunt today for four armed robbers that stormed into a Paris Apple Store on New Year’s Eve and successfully escaped with over £1million in Apple products.
The masked criminals, armed with handguns, reportedly attacked and injured the on-duty security guard before entering and looting the store. The theft occured at roughly 9 PM, three hours after the store had closed for the day, and was expected to have been timed on New Year’s Eve due to the number of police tasked with managing celebrating citizens located at the Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower.
The robbers quickly grabbed boxes of products like iPhones and iPads and rushed them to a getaway van that was waiting around the corner of the Opera neighborhood flagship store. By the time police arrived, the four had already escaped the scene.
A spokesman for the Paris police force said that ‘everything possible’ was being done in order to track down and arrest those responsible. Police are also studying security camera footage for any information that may help lead them to knowing the identities of the suspects.
Organized robberies like this are very uncommon in the city and this is the first time a robbery like this had taken place at an Apple Store within the country. Apple Stores are popular targets for thieves around the world due to the high demand and re-sale value of the devices.