Tag: theft

The stencil of Banksy in front of the Pompidou Center in Paris was stolen 

Yet protected by a plexiglass, the work of the British artist who represents a rat was stolen in the night from Sunday to Monday. The cultural center lodged a complaint “for theft and degradation”.

Works a little too coveted. After a graffiti stolen from Bataclan and an anti-Brexit fresco that mysteriously disappeared from Dover in England, the Pompidou Center “noticed the theft” of a work by the famous street-artist Banksy, “made on the back of the entrance panel “From its underground parking, said the Paris cultural center in a statement. The robbery took place in the night from Sunday to Monday, according to LCI information that revealed the crime on his site. The chain of continuous news states that the police were alerted around 4:15.

Source: The stencil of Banksy in front of the Center Pompidou in Paris was stolen 

Massive increase in pickpocket crimes in Paris metro 

Paris Metro

Since the start of 2019, crime on Paris public transit has shot up, most from pickpockets, organised in groups who target tourists in metro cars. The Paris police prefecture has registered an increase of 33 per cent in the number of pickpocket crimes reported on the metro, RER and local trains.

The thieves’ methods are as varied as they are familiar. Groups, often of young women, get close to their victims, then leave as the train doors are close, a smartphone or wallet in hand. Or they bump into someone getting off a train, and take advantage of the confusion to slip a hand in an open bag or pocket.

While Parisians are used to keeping their bags close to them, visitors are less wary, and become targets.

Police have trouble apprehending the perpetrators, as over half are minors, which makes it difficult to prosecute them, or deport them, as many are foreigners.

Train drivers will often make their own announcements to warn passengers to hold onto their belongings if they see a pickpocket gang on the platform.

The RATP, which runs the Metro, has set up a way for victims to file a complaint directly in 49 stations, without going to the police, which allows for victims to quickly receive documents to provide to insurance companies or to ask for a replacement passport at an embassy.

Source: Massive increase in pickpocket crimes in Paris metro – France – RFI

How a Gang of Thirsty Thieves Stole Over $500,000 Worth of Wine

ONE DECEMBER NIGHT IN 2014, a group of wine aficionados congregated in front of Thomas Keller’s famed French Laundry restaurant. They hadn’t called ahead to see if the Yountville, California, institution, which has an infamous, months-long waitlist, could accommodate them. Since it was Christmas night, the restaurant wasn’t even open.

Regardless, the crew got what they came for. They broke in and walked out with over $500,000 worth of wine, including some of the most coveted bottles in the world.

Nearly four years later, investigators have recovered all but a handful of the 110 missing bottles. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice released a statement confirming that two of the thieves—Alfred Georgis and Davis Kiryakoz—also conspired with others to steal and transport fine wines from Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino, California (that theft clocked in at $32,000). Additionally, Kiryakoz admitted that he’d been part of a group that swiped $290,000 worth of wine in 2013, from San Francisco’s Fine Wines International, according to SF Gate. Both men have since been sentenced to time in prison.

 

That this band of thieves pulled off several large heists is remarkable. The bandits planned sophisticated, well-surveilled thefts—they robbed the French Laundry, for instance, the day after it closed for a months-long renovation. No one was on the premises, so they easily pried open the door, then stepped into the wine cellar. The French Laundry’s state-of-the-art alarm system—which had been deactivated, for once—didn’t stop them either. And not just any thief could have absconded with such valuable booty. Continue reading “How a Gang of Thirsty Thieves Stole Over $500,000 Worth of Wine” →