Sylvie Claire / July 30, 2021
No, this is not the script of The Last Mercenary which is released today on Netflix. However, it is Jean-Claude Van Damme who is the star of this incredible story that took place this Tuesday afternoon in a chic street of the 8th arrondissement in Paris.
The Belgian was in the French capital to promote the film, but at that time, he went to a store in the Rue François-1er, at number 54, to buy glasses. The store Montaigne Optique offers creations of the designer John Dalia. As everywhere where our star goes, his arrival aroused a certain interest of the passers-by and the salesmen of the corner.
Right next to the store, at number 56, there happens to be another one, even more prestigious. The Chaumet store, a jewelry store that doesn't sell knock-offs, quite the contrary. While the man from Brussels was attracting all the attention, a man entered Chaumet. He arrived on a green electric scooter. Wearing a surgical mask, a light grey suit, a white shirt and a tie, this 50-year-old pretended to be a customer. He asked to be shown some jewelry, then pulled out a knife and left the jewelry store as if nothing had happened. On his scooter! Here is how without his knowledge, JCVD facilitated this robbery which did not make any wound. Interviewed by our colleagues of the newspaper Le Parisien, the mayor of the 8th district, Jeanne d'Hauteserre, spoke of a hallucinating, cheeky, unpublished and regrettable robbery. The most important thing is that there was no violence or injuries, she said, wondering how the perpetrator could have got through the security gate with a weapon. There's no metal detector? What about the alarm? the mayor asked.
Working a few meters away, the manager of the brasserie La Belle Ferronnière was speechless when he heard the news. Neither he nor his boys on the terrace saw anything, admitting that they were more focused on the famous Jean-Claude!
The end of the story? It is less glorious for the author of the daring theft. The next day, the 55-year-old Montenegrin was arrested with an accomplice 373 kilometers away. He was in a bus stopped on the freeway area of Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold, in Moselle! The driver was taking his break there.
The duo still had a large part of the loot on them.The amount of the stolen jewels was estimated between 2 and 3 million euros! They were arrested by the research and intervention brigade of Metz.
Who knows, this incredible adventure could inspire the former karate champion to make a film of which he has the secret. But there are still some grey areas. For example, how the thief could be found so quickly!