An armed robber disguised as a pensioner made off with £2.5million worth of jewellery after he pulled a gun on the cashier at a luxury watch store in Monaco.
The crook appeared to be wearing a latex mask, and donned a suit and flat cap to make him look like an old man and conceal his identity – fooling unsuspecting passersby as he held up the shop.
The heist lasted seven and a half minutes, and saw the masked looter swipe €3million of jewellery from the French Riviera shop before escaping with a getaway driver on the back of a scooter.
A CCTV camera captured the shocking robbery from start to finish, with the footage showing how the spectacled man used a cane as he pretended to hobble into the store.
The brazen thief then walks towards the till and pulls a handgun from his satchel, with the shocked shop assistant appearing to freeze before he forces her to fill a plastic bag with pricey timepieces.
The crook appeared to be wearing a latex mask, suit and flat cap to make him look like an old man and conceal his identity
The robber orders the shop assistant to help him ransack the store, giving her a plastic bag which they then fill with items
The shop assistant looks visibly nervous as the robber continues to grab watches from the store window
The attack on the Monaco store took place last Wednesday, with police appealing for information as the shoplifter remains on the run almost a week later.
Footage shows how the robber seemingly orders the shop worker to clear out the window displays, even as passersby stopped to gawp at the high-end watches.
He throws the onlookers off by acting like a customer waiting to see some watches, appearing at ease as he sits on a chair while resting his arm on the counter.
He then begins helping himself to the watches as he works quickly to ransack the store, before spraying the surfaces with a substance in an attempt to erase any trace of his DNA.
The looter then makes off with his cache, which is concealed in the shopping bag under his arm, at which point the terrified female staff member immediately jumps on the phone to alert police.
The unidentified robber is believed to have fled towards Beausoleil, around a mile inland from Monaco, on the pillion of a scooter.
No shots were fired during the heist and the salesperson was uninjured, but was taken to hospital after the ordeal in a state of shock.
The masked robber forces the woman to grab the watches during the seven and a half minute heist
The heist lasted seven and a half minutes, and saw the masked looter swipe €3million of jewellery from the French Riviera shop
A police officer told French newspaper Le Figaro: ‘They are certainly not amateurs, it takes a lot of preparation to commit a robbery in broad daylight in Monaco given the police presence on site and the general level of security.’
A spokesperson for the Monaco Watch Company said: ‘As many of you already know a couple of days ago our beloved shop has been robbed.
‘A masked man threatened our employee with a gun and forced her to empty the windows.
Thankfully no one was physically injured during this process but the shock is very deep.’
The robber sprays the surfaces with a substance in an attempt to erase any trace of his DNA
They added: ‘This brutal setback is hitting us all in the hardest way possible but we won’t let ourselves down especially because all of you are giving us a huge amount of strength to go through this had period of time.
‘With this video we wanted to thank you all for your support and even more the members that have the desire to leave them watches on consignment to us in order to reopen the shop as fast as possible with the maximum strength possible.
‘Many thanks again to all of you from the bottom of our hearts for being so close to us.’