Slider photo credit: thetimes.co.uk
“In 1996 I was robbed in a private home above Nice,” a Washington friend told Hollywood on the Potomac anonymously, “in an area called Le Cannet. There had been a ten million dollar robbery three years before of the wife of Marvin Davis (chairman of Davis Petroleum who at one time owned 20th Century Fox and The Beverly Hills Hotel).
Photo credit: www.thetimes.co.uk
The police were not helpful, as they mentioned it might be an inside job………but no, this was organized – the bandits had seen tourists at the airport and followed them to their destination, viewed them from telescopes, and moved in when they saw the right opportunity. They carried a “mace”- styled device in case they were apprehended by the owner of the jewelry-cash-passports they were stealing.
No luck in getting my favorite pieces back, even after working with lawyers and the French police. Moral to story – don’t take the goodies with you, ever.”
Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org
Today, French police are looking for a lone suspect who broke in through the French doors at the Carlton Hotel wearing a mask and carrying a hand gun who helped himself to diamond encrusted watches, necklaces and earrings from an exhibition being held on the ground floor of the hotel. The Carlton is located on the Croisette promenade, one of the most prestigious locations in the town, and the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film To Catch A Thief, which portrayed a jewel thief operating in the French Riviera.
Larry Lawton, the #1 jewel robber in the United States robbing more than 15 million in jewelry, explains the Cannes robbery in a way no one else can……..understanding how they did it, how they cased it and how they will fence the jewels.
“It was a setup,” says Lawton. “It was an inside job of some sort. It was a five minute robbery. They knew exactly where to get the stones.”
The book Gangster Redemption explains it all. Written with 8 time NY Times bestselling author Peter Golenbock, “The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Successful Jewel Robber.” In chapters 4 thru 7 Larry explains jewelry store robberies in detail.
Hollywood on the Potomac sat down with Larry Lawton for a SKYPE interview:
