Armed robbers raided the Bulgari luxury jewellery store on the swanky Place Vendome in central Paris in broad daylight Saturday, fleeing with a haul of unknown value, police and prosecutors said.
Three people on two motorbikes entered the store in the popular tourist district at around 1:45pm local time (1145 GMT), a police source said, citing preliminary information.
The scale of the damage and the loot they got away with is still being assessed, the source added.
The same Bulgari store was also targeted in an armed robbery in September 2021, the damage of which was estimated at €10 million. Video footage posted on social networks on Saturday appeared to show two large black motorbikes parked on the pavement in front of the jewellery shop.
A man in a helmet with a gun and wearing black clothes is seen apparently standing guard.
Later, three men can be seen fleeing the scene on two motorbikes. An investigation into armed robbery has been opened, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
Following the 2021 heist at the Bulgari store, one of the robbers was wounded in the leg by a police officer. He was arrested, charged and imprisoned. In June 2022, two other suspects, aged 26 and 37 at the time, were arrested.
They were also charged and placed in pre-trial detention. The Italian jeweller Bulgari is owned by the French fashion conglomerate LVMH.