Most infamous jewel thief in US calls Louvre robbers ‘idiots’: 'I robbed 25 f***ing stores and I never...'

Thieves raided Paris's Louvre museum in broad daylight on October 19, 2025, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France's priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said. "Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of invaluable cultural heritage were stolen," said the ministry statement. They included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie Louise, and the crown of Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III. (Image credit: AFP)

America’s most notorious jewelry thief has weighed in on the audacious Louvre Museum heist, calling the four suspects “amateurs” and predicting they will be caught. The robbery, which took place on Sunday morning, saw jewels worth $102 million stolen from the Paris landmark in just seven minutes.

“I hope they had enough money to literally lie low and get out of the country,” Larry Lawton
told The New York Post about the four suspects who staged the seven-minute robbery on Sunday morning. Lawton, 64, looted 25 jewelry stores across the US East Coast in the 1980s and ’90s, netting an estimated $18 million. His critique of the Louvre gang was blunt: “They’re not professionals like I was. I robbed 25 f***ing stores and I never dropped the jewelry, no less a crown!”

Errors that could lead to arrest

Investigators said that the thieves damaged and dropped Empress Eugenie’s diamond-and-emerald crown during their escape, leaving it behind. One suspect reportedly left a glove at the scene, and the group failed to destroy evidence after trying to set fire to a stolen work truck and ladder used in the break-in. “They made major mistakes,” Lawton said, adding that at least one robber is likely a local with inside knowledge of the museum.

Inside job suspicion

Lawton believes someone at the Louvre may have shared information, possibly unknowingly, that helped the gang plan the theft. “There’s usually a connection,” he told The New York Post, noting that such details often play a role in high-profile robberies.

The heist at a glance

The thieves posed as construction workers, used a furniture hoist truck and an extendable ladder to access a balcony, and cracked openings in high-end showcases without shattering the glass. Eight pieces of imperial jewelry remain missing, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I and a diadem with nearly 2,000 diamonds.

Museum admits ‘insufficient’ surveillance

Three days after the heist, Louvre director Laurence des Cars admitted to senators that security cameras did not cover the balcony used for entry. “Despite our efforts, we failed,” she said, calling the surveillance of outside walls “highly insufficient.” All alarms functioned during the burglary, but only one camera faced west, leaving the thieves’ access point unmonitored.

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered an acceleration of security upgrades at the museum, which reopened to visitors on Wednesday. The Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred, remains closed.

How the heist unfolded

The gang posed as construction workers, using a stolen furniture hoist truck and an extendable ladder to reach a window. They cracked openings in high-end showcases without shattering the glass, extracting jewels including an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I and a diadem with nearly 2,000 diamonds.

Eight pieces remain missing, while the damaged crown is expected to be restored. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 100 investigators are working on the case. “I have full confidence we will find the perpetrators,” he told French media.

Recent museum thefts raise alarm
The Louvre robbery follows a string of high-value thefts from French museums, including gold nuggets worth $1.5 million stolen from Paris’s Natural History Museum last month and $7.6 million in artifacts taken from Limoges in September.

(With inputs from AFP)