Men Swipe $65M in UK's Biggest Jewel Heist

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2009 7:03 AM CDT

Two well-dressed men escaped from one of London's most expensive jewelers with $65 million worth of rings, necklaces, and watches last week, in what the Telegraph calls the biggest heist in British history. Yesterday authorities released surveillance footage of the robbers, who used three cars to make their getaway. Their escape was nearly foiled when the robbers crashed their BMW into a taxi—pub customers chased them down the street, but one fired a warning shot before getting into a waiting Mercedes.

The two men briefly took one employee hostage and dragged her out into one of the capital's busiest streets before letting her go. They then sped away in the BMW, although it's believed that they handed off the loot to a waiting accomplice on a motorcycle. One officer said that the two men went directly for the most expensive items in the shop and that "they already have a market for the jewels." (More armed robbery stories.)

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