The public is learning more about the four suspects arrested for allegedly stealing the French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum last month. One suspect in particular has garnered attention as a social media star known for his motocross stunts, according to Le Parisien.
The 39-year-old man, identified by officials as Abdoulaye N., was arrested at his home in the Parisian suburb Aubervilliers, six days after the October 19 heist. His DNA was reportedly found on display cases and other abandoned items at the scene such as gloves, a hi-vis vest, and disc cutters. He is suspected of being one of two people who broke into the museum’s Apollo gallery through an unsecured window, before absconding on motorbikes.
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Abdoulaye N. is reportedly known on social media as Doudou Cross Bitume, who released numerous videos performing tricks on motorbikes, traveling locally, and offering tips on how to build muscle on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, reported Le Parisien and BFMTV. Several videos additionally show him riding a Yamaha TMax, which was also used in the Louvre escape.
He also worked for such companies as UPS and Toys-R-Us, as well as a security guard at the Centre Pompidou, the news outlets added, and already had a previous criminal record with 15 offenses, including possession and transportation of drugs, driving without a license, and causing danger to others. In 2014, he was convicted of robbing a jewelry store (another one of the suspects arrested in the Louvre heist was said to have been convicted in the same robbery, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau revealed last week).
Abdoulaye N. was supposed to be on trial in another Parisian suburb Bobigny for a separate case on Wednesday, November 5 for damage of public property such as breaking a mirror and damaging the door of the prison cell, where he was detained in 2019 for another theft for which he was subsequently cleared, according to the Associated Press.
Despite narrowing in on suspects, the stolen jewels still have yet to be recovered.
