Louvre Jewel Heist

It was like something out of a movie - a jewel heist at the Louvre. NBC News Radio National Correspondent Rory O'Neill joins us with details on this massive robbery. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Skit caught up with a daring I don't know if
it'll make it to the big screen, but at least
it made for TV movie. Rory O'Neal, NBC News Radio
National correspondent on the liveline with us this morning. Rory,
thanks for doing this today, sor morning Steve, So depending
on how French you want to get with this thing.
The louverra was broken into like in broad daylight.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, while it was open. It is open on Sundays,
closed on Mondays. Of course, they had to shut down
yesterday after These four thieves have a truck with a
ladder on it, drive right up to a side window
on the send facing side of the louver, cut their
way in and make off with eight pieces of the
Crown Jewels of France essentially and are gone the whole

(00:47):
thing taking about seven minutes. They fled the scene on scooters.
The real fear is that these jewels have already been
broken down, harvested for their emeralds, their diamonds, the precious
metals melted down. These items could be lost forever.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I gotta tell you, I mean, I've been to a
couple spots in England where the Crown Jewels are displayed
in there. You're not getting into that thing. How is
it possible that a couple of dudes with a pickup
and a ladder could pull something like this off?

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, that's the question everyone's asking at this point. The
fact that it was also happening during the day, probably
when security is more lax, right, more of a shutdown,
I suspect overnight. Although it's interesting this wing of the Love,
about a thirty percent of it has no security cameras.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
What yeah, security cameras.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
There no not even a ring doorbell on a third
of the rooms going on in here.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yep, well, I bet you they will be from This
has got to be an inside job. I don't know
anything about steel and jewelry, but you gotta be inside
to pull something like this off.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, right, and then you have to know how to
get rid of it, right, because that's really the how
do you offence it? And if you are just breaking
it down, you don't suddenly show up with two thousand
diamonds at the local pawn shop. You know. One diadem
does have two thousand diamonds. It's given to Empress Eugenia
from Napoleon the Third And that's just one piece. So

(02:17):
the value of these has been described as inestimable because
you know, they're the Crown Jewels. There's no way to
put a value on them.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
All right, I'll ask the obvious question. Was Tom Cruise
seen anywhere in the area, right, Tom crew?

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah? I was trying to find a better movie to
compare it to. Some said Ocean's twelve. I like the
Italian Job, you know, the French version of the Italian
Job because of the scooters, sort of reminds me of
the Many Cars getting Away. Yeah, pick or Thomas Crown Affair,
which may be more specific, and all have remakes, by
the way, I mean Italian Job, Thomas Crown, Oceans, they're

(02:52):
all remakes.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
I like Tom Cruise, so I'm hoping it's not him,
but he could certainly with his crew pull that off. No,
I think he's a good guy. Well yeah, you know,
but I mean, who is you working for? Is he
a double agent?

Speaker 2 (03:01):
I mean yeah, but if they're on a shelf, Tom
can't get them.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
I don't know what the ropes and everything. Thanks six six,
Thanks for your time this morning. Thanks guys,