Robbers ‘Dressed Like Haredis’ Clean Out Jewish Jeweler in France
Armed robbers reportedly “dressed like haredis” ripped off a Jewish jeweler in France before releasing toxic gas in the air.
Four men approached the jeweler near his Marseille shop on Wednesday morning, the news site La Depeche reported. Two were “dressed like haredis,” according to the French news agency AFP, and two wore masks. At least one of the robbers was toting an AK-47 assault rifle, AFP reported.
The men kidnapped the jeweler, who was not named, and forced him to open his shop. After the robbery they released a gas that caused “skin irritation and breathing difficulties” to about 30 residents of nearby apartments, La Depeche reported.
Residents called the police to report the gas as the suspects drove away, taking the Jewish jeweler with them as a hostage. They left the jeweler unharmed inside the car on a freeway outside Marseille, took another car and drove away.
A Scene from the Film ‘Snatch’
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
