A group of thieves stole jewelry and watches valued at least €500,000 (£421,000) from a Bulgari store in Rome. They carried out the heist at midnight on June 9th by drilling into the store’s basement of the Bulgari shop on Via Condotti, a street known for its luxury designer stores. The thieves then escaped into the city’s sewers, with police in pursuit.
Three masked robbers were captured on CCTV triggering the alarm at a Bulgari store. Police responded within seven minutes of the alarm activation but took an additional four minutes to breach the barricaded door. During this time, the thieves managed to collect their loot and escape back into Rome’s sewer system through the hole they had created. According to reports from Italian media, the entire operation took just 11 minutes.
Crime Scene in Rome
Rome’s sewer system, dating back to ancient Roman times, is a vast network of tunnels often likened to an underground metro system. Marco Placidi, head of Sotterranei di Roma, an organization focused on Rome’s underground archaeology, explained, “The center of Rome is criss-crossed by sewer tunnels that date back to the Roman era and are still in use. They are large enough to walk in and, if it’s not raining, there is no more than 10cm of water in them. They are not totally mapped so it is hard to know where the robbers went.”
Speculation arose that the thieves had surveilled the Bulgari store over time and possibly entered as customers to familiarize themselves with its layout and security systems. As of now, there is no information on whether fingerprints were found on the crowbar used in the heist, and it remains uncertain if this might aid in recovering the stolen jewels.