17 arrested in France over Kardashian robbery, prosecutors’ office says
Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the robbery of reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris three months ago, media outlets reported Monday.
Robbers threatened Kardashian with a gun, tied her up and locked her in a bathroom at her rented luxury hotel-apartment in October, before fleeing with jewelry worth an estimated $11 million.
Police raided addresses in Paris and in the south of France after a suspect’s DNA was discovered at the hotel, seizing cash and documents, France 24 reported Monday.
The Paris prosecutors’ office confirmed the arrests, but declined to say whether the five people that police have said took part in the robbery were among those taken into custody, the Associated Press reported.
The suspects can be held for up to 96 hours before police must either charge them or let them go.
The robbery occurred while Kardashian was attending Paris Fashion Week. For several days prior, she had posted pictures of herself at fashion shows, disclosed her schedule and whereabouts, and showed off some of her jewels, such as a new $4 million diamond ring she had just gotten, on social media. The ring was one of the items stolen in the robbery.
News of the arrests came after Kardashian tearfully recalled the robbery in a new clip released last week to promote the upcoming season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
"They're going to shoot me in the back. There's no way out. It makes me so upset to think about it," she told her sisters Khloe and Kourtney.
Kardashian, who had gone silent on her social media accounts since the robbery, returned to Twitter and Instagram last week, posting a series of family photos with her husband Kanye West and children North, 3, and Saint, 1.
Kardashian's reps in the USA did not respond to requests for comment. But Jean Veil, her lawyer in Paris, said the news of arrests is "a great satisfaction," according to the AP.
"These arrests are a nice surprise because we might be able to find the jewels," Veil told the French magazine L'Express.
He said his client could be interviewed again by investigators and might have to face the suspects.
Contributing: Maeve McDermott, The Associated Press