Big hit at Dior in the centre of Florence. Goods worth 200,000 euro stolen

Another maxi-theft by the criminal underworld in the centre of Florence a few days after the one on the night of Ferragosto for hundreds of thousands of euro worth of valuables plundered from a jewellery shop near Piazza della Signoria. This time, again at night, between Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August, the thieves robbed the Dior shop in Via Strozzi, next to Piazza della Repubblica, in the golden triangle of designer and globalised commerce, at around 3am.

The value of the stolen goods is estimated at around 200,000 euro. Handbags and clothing items were stolen. The theft was noticed by private security who, at first, feared a fire, because of the smoke visible from outside, from the shop windows. In reality, as the fire brigade ascertained, it was fog triggered by the burglar alarm, which went off.

The thieves, from what has been reconstructed so far, are said to have entered through a large wooden door of the adjacent building, an entrance around the corner from Via Sassetti. In order to enter, the lock was not picked; the thieves may have typed in the code on the keypad with which the entrance to the building is equipped, but this will be ascertained by police investigations. From the lobby, the door leading to the cellars would have been forced, followed by a small door connecting to the back of the Dior shop, which would also be used for suppliers and the unloading of goods. The thieves allegedly showed knowledge of the arrangement of the secondary entrances to the shop. Not being able to enter from Via Strozzi, from the front, they 'worked on the building at the back, which is also inhabited on the upper floors and houses professional offices plus a B&.

In all likelihood, several people may have acted in the heist, not only those who came in to loot the goods from the shelves, but also several 'posts' placed in cars and on street corners to warn of the possible arrival of vigilantes, police forces, or passers-by, as well as informers and backstabbers. Images from the numerous public cameras placed around the city will be able to clarify this, an operation also useful for reconstructing escape routes, finding where the vehicles were abandoned and where the goods were transshipped. The Dior staff put everything back in order, cleaned and restocked the shop. There was a regular opening on Sunday morning, customers did not notice anything.

The police are investigating, just as they have been doing since the night between 15 and 16 August for the other, recent heist in the historic centre of Florence when, in Via de' Cerchi, the thieves carried out a minute-and-a-half blitz in a jeweller's shop, at around 2am. They barricaded the narrow streets of the mediaeval network with cars, three went in to loot valuables and jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of euro, then fled as the alarm sounded.