Extra particulars are being revealed concerning the suspects concerned within the brazen daylight Louvre Museum heist that lasted less than eight minutes contained in the world’s most-visited museum final month.
A 39-year-old French social media character has been recognized as one of many 4 suspects arrested and charged after the Louvre housebreaking, according to Le Parisien.
Abdoulaye N, identified on-line as Doudou Cross Bitume, was detained at his house in Aubervilliers and positioned in pre-trial detention. He faces preliminary prices of theft by an organized gang and prison conspiracy.
In whole, 4 suspects are in custody as a part of the investigation, together with three believed to be members of the workforce of 4 filmed utilizing a cherry picker to succeed in the museum’s window and achieve entry.
Abdoulaye N. runs YouTube and TikTok channels beneath Doudou Cross Bitume. Movies present him performing methods on motocross in Paris and Aubervilliers.
His acquaintances told BFMTV that he’s a “function mannequin for his technology” and a “star of motorbike stunts.”
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that Abdoulaye N. had been convicted in 2015 for a theft dedicated in 2014, in the identical theft case involving a 37-year-old, who was additionally arrested final week in reference to the Louvre heist.
The suspect is believed to be one of many two thieves who broke into the Apollo Gallery with energy instruments, reducing into show instances to steal the jewels. His DNA was reportedly discovered on one of many instances and on objects they left behind.
Suspect’s trial in separate case postponed
On Wednesday, a French court docket postponed the trial of Abdoulaye N. in a special case as a result of media consideration and different points which will impede the equity of the proceedings, according to The Associated Press.
A court docket in Bobigny, north of Paris, mentioned the suspect’s trial on prices of damaging public property will happen in April.
His 4 attorneys mentioned the extremely publicized Louvre theft didn’t enable them to correctly put together for the trial.
Maxime Cavaillé, one of many attorneys, instructed reporters: “We’ll be extraordinarily vigilant about a number of factors, to start with the respect of the presumption of innocence … and the respect of [judicial] proceedings.”
Cavaillé mentioned they may be sure the “privateness” of their consumer is revered regardless of the “extraordinary nature” of the Louvre case. They declined to supply additional particulars.
The prosecutor agreed the case have to be judged in “serene situations” that weren’t met Wednesday as a result of “mediatization [sic] and up to date occasions.”
The suspect had been initially scheduled to face trial Wednesday on minor prices of breaking a mirror and damaging the door of the jail cell the place he was detained in 2019 as a part of a separate theft investigation, which later cleared him.
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Beccuau mentioned the person gave investigators “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” his involvement within the Louvre heist.
Alleged password to Louvre’s video surveillance system
On the time of the Louvre heist on Oct. 19, the password to the museum’s video surveillance system was reportedly simply “Louvre,” according to ABC News.
French outlet Libération was the primary to report the information of the alleged password and cited confidential paperwork. The outlet claims the password was revealed by France’s Nationwide Cybersecurity Company in a 2014 audit.
The Louvre’s director Laurence des Automobiles faced questioning by a cultural committee on the French Senate final month amid questions over the museum’s safety.
Des Automobiles mentioned that the museum had a scarcity of safety cameras outdoors the monument and different “weaknesses” that have been uncovered by the thieves.
“As we speak we’re experiencing a horrible failure on the Louvre, which I take my share of duty in,” she mentioned.
“We didn’t detect the arrival of the thieves quickly sufficient,” des Automobiles added.
She mentioned the museum’s alarms had labored correctly, however that it at present doesn’t have full video surveillance of the perimeter outdoors the museum, although there’s a plan to supply full protection of all of the Louvre’s facades. The one digicam over the Apollo Gallery, mentioned des Automobiles, was dealing with west and didn’t seize the balcony the place the break-in passed off.
The Louvre urged to hurry up safety upgrades
France’s court docket of auditors urged the Louvre museum to hurry up its safety modernization plans as a precedence in a report performed earlier than the heist that famous main delays within the renovation of the well-known museum.
The report by the Cour des Comptes comes after a collection of failings and safety points got here to mild following the theft of the $102-million value of crown jewels that shocked the world. The thieves used a truck-mounted cherry picker to succeed in a window of the Apollo Gallery and fled with the trove inside minutes.
“The theft of the crown jewels is undoubtedly a deafening alarm bell,” Pierre Moscovici, head of the court docket of auditors, mentioned at a news conference.
Moscovici mentioned that the heist was a “wake-up name” for museum safety and identified that upgrades to safety on the Louvre have been transferring at a “woefully insufficient tempo.”
The report, specializing in the 2018-2024 interval, mentioned the museum’s investments prioritized “seen and enticing operations,” like shopping for new items of artwork and enhancing customer expertise. That was “on the expense of the upkeep and renovation of buildings and technical installations, notably security and safety programs,” it mentioned.
A plan to modernize safety gear was being studied since 2018, however its implementation saved being delayed, the report mentioned. Precise technical work was solely to start out subsequent 12 months and was deliberate to be totally applied by 2032.
“The tempo is way too sluggish,” Moscovici mentioned.
The court docket of auditors, which is an impartial physique, believes safety could be improved with out hiring extra employees on the museum, Moscovici added. A earlier evaluation exhibits that the theft was made doable by outdated safety programs, not due to an absence of employees, he mentioned.
The price for safety modernization is estimated to be 83 million euros ($95 million), out of which solely three million euros ($3.5 million) have been invested between 2018 and 2024, based on the report.
The museum mentioned that over the previous three years, 134 digital cameras have been put in to complement or change outdated cameras all through the museum, the report famous.
The court docket of auditors really useful that the Louvre give attention to priorities, together with bringing the museum’s technical services — notably security and safety — as much as requirements, and reduce bills in different areas. Meaning decreasing artwork acquisition and saving on museum rooms’ renovation tasks, the report mentioned.
In response to the audit on Thursday, the Louvre mentioned it “regretted” that the report didn’t bear in mind the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic disaster and the 2024 Paris Olympics, which the museum mentioned impacted sure selections.
The Louvre mentioned it agrees with many of the court docket of auditors’ suggestions and has already made related proposals. It famous that the Oct. 19 theft occurred weeks earlier than deliberate safety enhancements have been to start out being applied.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press
