It’s not every day you find out that the biggest museum heist was (allegedly) pulled off by a bloke more famous for popping wheelies on YouTube than blending in with a crew of Ocean’s Eleven-types.
Enter Abdoulaye N, 39, better known to his TikTok fans as Doudou Cross Bitume, or that guy who does motorcycle tricks near Stade de France.
French media have gone into overdrive after Abdoulaye was pinched at his home in Aubervilliers, just north of Paris, six days after the absolutely wild daylight robbery. He’s now facing charges of organised theft and criminal conspiracy after multiple people lifted a cool €88 million worth of crown jewels from the Louvre. That’s about $145 million Aussie dollars.
According to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, after police cracked the case, they discovered DNA on several display cases and tools abandoned at the scene — including gloves, a hi-vis vest and disc cutters — that traced straight back to Abdoulaye.
Investigators reportedly found that he’d also previously worked security at the Pompidou art museum, but he’d swapped guarding masterpieces for starring in fitness-how-to’s and motorbike stunts online.
The four-man crew apparently used a stolen truck, an extendable ladder and a freight lift to climb into the Louvre’s Apollo gallery. Two of the blokes smashed straight through a loose window and then glass display cabinets, before escaping on two scooters driven by their mates. Abdoulaye reportedly rode a Yamaha TMax — the very same mega-scooter featuring in several of his social media videos.
The gang vanished in under seven minutes, nabbing an emerald and diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to Marie Louise and a diadem dripping with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
Beccuau said the suspect “partially admitted” to his involvement in the heist, but says the suspects “do not correspond with those one generally associates” with high-level, meticulously planned organised crime, fuelling speculation that perhaps the gang was playing for someone else behind the scenes.
Locals seem divided — Le Parisien quoted neighbours calling Abdoulaye “helpful”, “decent”, and “a man who wears his heart on his sleeve”. That said, motorbike backflips weren’t what landed him in court — his trial on unrelated vandalism charges was put on ice this week due to all the media buzz.
As for the jewels? They’re still at large, so you’ll have to stay tuned for the next episode of this IRL heist show.
Lead image: Instagram / Getty
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