Suspects in Louis Vuitton Store Robbery Identified Within 12 Hours, Yet Arrested Individuals Claim Innocence
The Budapest Police Headquarters' Property Protection Department has launched an investigation against unidentified perpetrators, leading to the identification of the alleged culprits within 12 hours after meticulous data collection.
The announcement was made on Tuesday following the robbery of the Andrássy Avenue Louis Vuitton boutique, reported on Police.hu.
The assailants backed a car into the store's window in the early hours of April 15, seizing high-value handbags, sunglasses, and belts through the shattered glass before disappearing with merchandise worth several tens of millions of forints.
However, RTL News reported that the police might not have apprehended the actual perpetrators. The two foreigners arrested claim they were not present at the scene, a sentiment echoed by the prosecution.
Ferenc Rab, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Budapest Prosecutor's Office, told RTL that based on credible suspicion, the arrested individuals from Montenegro and Croatia had assisted the thieves a few hours after the burglary. One of them allegedly transported the boxed loot in a taxi. According to RTL, one denied the allegations in court, while the other claimed ignorance of the contents he was handling.
An attorney for one of the accused also mentioned to RTL that his client does not appear in the recordings, indicating a possible misidentification.
Despite these claims, pretrial detention has been ordered for both men due to the risk of flight and the potential for them to contact other culprits if released. Both have appealed against their detention.