It’s no surprise that celebrities have many valuable possessions to their name, and with that comes the obvious potential for theft. However, what you don’t ever see is said celebrity going after the thieves that took their valuables, yet that’s exactly what Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc did last year when his watch was stolen in the Tuscan town of Viareggio.
Despite the crime taking place in April 2022, the four criminals involved were only recently arrested, hence why the video footage hadn’t been released until now. And if you’re wondering why Leclerc went through all this trouble for just a watch, it’s worth noting that this wasn’t your average Timex. Rather, it was a one-off Richard Mille piece made specifically for the Ferrari driver, estimated to be worth as much as $2 million.
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The events of the heist occurred as follows: the first two suspects posed as fans wanting to get a photo with Leclerc. When he obliged, they took the watch from him and escaped on a scooter. They then delivered the timepiece to two people in a grey SUV, the same SUV which could be seen following Leclerc in the first clip of the video.
After the exchange between the scooter thieves and the driver of the SUV, Leclerc arrived to the scene in his bespoke Ferrari 488 Pista. While he didn’t confront the thieves in an action film-esque show of heroism like many may have hoped, it appears he was able to get the SUV’s license plate information, which is likely what aided in the criminals’ identification and arrest.
Two valuable watches were reportedly found during a search of one of the suspects’ homes, though it was not specified if either was the one stolen from Leclerc.