New vid shows Louvre bandits calmly ESCAPE on cherry picker without cop in sight
ASTONISHING new footage has emerged of the £76million Louvre heist burglars escaping down the cherry picker with their stolen loot.
There’s not a single policeman or security guard in sight as the thieves descend back to the pavement before speeding off on scooters.
The video shows two masked men, one wearing a high vis and the other in full motorbike gear, standing in the box of a cherry picker-style mechanical ladder just after 9:30 on Sunday morning.
In the past seven minutes, the pair have cut through a glass window, smashed through two display cabinets and grabbed eight pieces of France’s most valuable jewellery collection.
Once back on ground level, they jump out and climb onto scooters to make their escape – which has so far proven successful.
Gilbert Collard, a lawyer and politician, uploaded the verified footage on Thursday morning, writing: “The Louvre thieves offer you the spectacle of the basket in complete tranquillity.”
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Security guards can be heard swearing in panic and disbelief as they watch the prized jewels disappear.
One says: “The individuals are on scooters – they are about to leave,” as police sirens can be heard in the background.
Another shouts: “Blast! Try the police. They’ve gone!” along with a string of expletives.
Passers-by meanwhile stroll along the River Seine quay without batting an eyelid.
A security guard captured the footage on his mobile phone, while the Louvre’s official security cameras failed to cover the window used by the thieves to break in.
There were five security guards on duty at the Apollo Gallery but all of them ran away after being threatened with angle-grinders and chainsaws.
Speaking for the first time since the heist, Louvre director Laurence des Cars, 59, offered her resignation for the embarrassing failure which allowed the four raiders to strike.
She said: “The only camera installed is directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in. There are some perimeter cameras, but they are ageing.
“Despite our efforts, despite our hard work every day, we were defeated. We did not detect the thieves’ arrival early enough.”
Ms Des Cars was grilled by Senators on Wednesday, and they demanded to know how a flatbed truck with an extendible ladder was able to park in the wrong direction on the pavement directly outside the Louvre.
It made a U-turn on a three-lane one-way street by the Seine, and was used by the gang to get up to the first floor of the museum.
They spent just seven minutes carrying out the raid, which included breaking open two cabinets containing eight pieces of Napoleonic jewellery described as “France’s crown jewels”.
The pieces were not insured because of the massive cost of premiums, Ms Des Cars explained.
Ms Des Cars said the thieves had put bollards on the pavement, and wore hi viz yellow and orange jackets and balaclavas during the 9.20am heist.
“As soon as they broke a window and entered the museum, the alarm systems went off and the security protocol was followed,” she said.
Private security guards who heard the alerts on their radio system ran to the van and managed to prevent the robbers setting fire to it before they fled.
This helped save valuable evidence, including a glove and a helmet, as well as the vehicle itself, but the men disappeared on two Yamaha motorbikes.
Ms Des Cars said she had handed her resignation in to Rachida Dati, the Culture Minister, but it was refused.
She said “security plans” had included “video surveillance covering all facades” and “the installation of fixed thermal cameras” but these plans had not been implemented in time.
This was because they required extensive work on the electricity supply, including 40 miles worth of new cables.
Ms Des Cars said she had repeatedly warned that the centuries-old building’s security was in a dire state, saying: “The warnings I had been sounding came horribly true last Sunday.”
She pledged to set up no-parking perimeters around the Louvre, upgrade the CCTV network, and ask the Interior Ministry to set up a police station inside the museum.
The raid happened between 9.20am and 9.27am before management chose to shut the Louvre down for three days.
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Detectives then joined senior politicians in examining the crime scene.
A report by France’s auditing watchdog – the Cours des Comptes – meanwhile revealed “consistent and persistent delays” in bringing security up to date at the world’s most visited art museum.