Small-Time Crooks Behind Louvre Jewel Heist?

The recent Louvre heist might have seemed like a job for big-time criminals, but the suspects in custody tell a different story. They are local folks from Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris. The group includes three men and one woman, all with records, but not the kind you'd expect from masterminds behind a high-profile museum robbery.

The Suspects

• One of the men, aged 37, has been in trouble 11 times before, mostly for theft. The prosecutors say his past doesn't scream organized crime.
• Another suspect has 15 convictions, two for robbery. Interestingly, these two men were even caught together in a 2015 Paris robbery.
• The woman in the group is 38 and is in a long-term relationship with one of the men.

The Heist

The prosecutors think it's not so surprising that small-time criminals are pulling off big crimes. Maybe it's a sign of the times.

The heist happened on October 19th. The thieves used a truck with a ladder to climb up to the Apollo Gallery. This gallery is on the Louvre's upper floor and is home to the French crown jewels. It's one of the fanciest rooms in the museum.

They broke into two high-security display cases and took nine items, including a diamond and sapphire set that once belonged to Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense.

The whole thing sounds like something out of a movie, but the suspects don't quite fit the bill of Hollywood-style criminals.