A new case of theft in the Jura. Two men suspected of being linked to the robbery of a watch company and a hostage-taking on Thursday evening in Switzerland were arrested in France, in Pontarlier (Doubs), after a shooting with the police, said Friday corroborating sources. The two men were taken into custody in Besançon and their vehicle is being searched, the prosecution said. Early Friday morning, no loot had been found, he added.
According to the Swiss agency ATS, a watchmaking company working with precious metals “was the scene of a hostage-taking Thursday evening” in Le Locle, near Neuchâtel. The town is located on the Franco-Swiss border. “Four people were kidnapped for nearly two hours”, without being injured, and “the perpetrators fled with loot of an unknown amount”, continues the Swiss agency.
The same scenario in November
The two men then fled to neighboring France. They were spotted by the police, notified by the Swiss authorities, who pursued them. The “brief” chase ended in a dead end in Pontarlier: the suspects then charged on the vehicle of the police, who opened fire “several dozen times”, without causing any injuries, said a police source. . They “exhibited” a weapon, but they “a priori” did not shoot, added the same source. The investigation was entrusted to the judicial police of Besançon.
This is the second time in three months that such a scenario has occurred: at the beginning of November, six people had taken hostage the whole family of the director of a watchmaking company in Bassecourt, in the Swiss Jura. They had stolen the precious materials intended for the production of the company before fleeing to France, forcing a roadblock and injuring a customs officer. Their two vehicles and weapons had been found charred in the Belfort region.
The Swiss Jura is the heart of the country’s watch production. Precious materials, often used to make the most beautiful pieces, make these workshops prime targets for thieves.