Police coy as Button latest target in enclave
IT IS a magnet for oligarchs, billionaires and stars who come to relax in the sun. But Saint-Tropez has proven equally irresistible for crime gangs, as latest celebrity victim Jenson Button has discovered.
While the Formula One driver and his wife, Jessica, slept in their luxury villa, burglars stole items worth NZ$700,000 including her engagement ring.
Police and prosecutors have expressed scepticism about a claim that professional thieves used gas pumped through the air conditioning to render the couple unconscious before entering.
But a private investigator has told The Sunday Telegraph that the incident is just the latest in a spate of similar crimes to have hit this opulent pocket of the French Riviera.
Patrick Boffa, based on the Cote d’Azur, has investigated two cases in Ramatuelle, barely 8km from the villa rented by Button, in which the victims were reportedly gassed.
‘‘In one case, the robbery happened in a caravan and the thieves sprayed the family with gas that almost asphyxiated them,’’ said Boffa. ‘‘The other was in a villa and we believe the family may have been gassed with the help of someone working there.
‘‘Those who use gas tend to be from Eastern Europe.’’ He said the victims, also described as ‘‘eastern European’’, decided not to notify police of the thefts, which happened two years ago.
Boffa claimed the French authorities were playing down the risk of gas attacks: ‘‘They’re trying to minimise it so they don’t scare away wealthy visitors, especially the Russians who’ll stop coming if they think they can be targeted.’’
Other high-profile thefts in the area came to light in the French press yesterday. The French fashion designer, Daniel Hechter, and the late spy novelist, Gerard de Villiers, France’s answer to Ian Fleming, were both burgled at properties near the one rented by Button, it was reported.
When jewels and valuables worth more than NZ$46,000 were stolen from Hechter’s villa in 2008, the security guards said they had been gassed. Like Button, the designer slept through the robbery. Most of the items stolen belonged to his guest, Philippe Junot, the first husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
It was the same scenario two years ago when NZ$350,000 worth of goods were seized from the villa of de Villiers. He was not present, but his estranged wife, Christine, slept through the robbery. For Button, 35, who lives in nearby Monaco, Saint-Tropez was a place for solitude and relaxation, away from the hectic, public world of Formula One.
The racing star is most often spotted pedalling a bike in the hills behind the resort, where redroofed pastel-coloured villas are hidden from view behind palm trees and bougainvillea. ‘‘He looks very fit and obviously trains a lot,’’ said a local restaurateur.
Despite high security, the robbers broke in on Monday night without disturbing Button or his wife, who discovered the burglary in the morning.
Two intruders were reportedly picked up on CCTV, but police refused to say whether they could be identified.
‘‘Just as the holiday clientele here is exclusive, the criminals who come here in summer to target them are also a cut above the average burglar,’’ a police source said.
‘‘They’re highly skilled, wellorganised and well informed. They track their victims’ movements for days or even weeks before they strike.’’
Not all are convinced by the claims. French police said they knew of no cases in the SaintTropez area where gas was used to render victims unconscious. The Royal College of Anaesthetists said it was extremely unlikely that an anaesthetic gas was employed but could not rule out the use of another kind of gas.
One police source even suggested that the couple had not needed to be rendered unconscious as they appeared to be suffering from hangovers.
‘‘They may have been embarrassed because they didn’t wake up,’’ the source said. ‘‘People come here to party and there’s lots of drinking.
‘‘In this case, it seems likely that they had been drinking the night before. The stories of people being gassed are a myth.’’
Blood and urine samples taken from the couple are being tested and the results will be known later this week.
Until then this exclusive enclave, where Rolls-Royce convertibles compete for space with Ferraris on narrow, winding roads, feels a little less relaxed.