Paris jewel thief betrayed by a kiss

PARIS - A thief who kissed the owner of a Paris jewelry shop he was robbing was arrested with the help of the DNA he left on her face, a French newspaper reported on Tuesday.

 

Last April, two masked men tied the jeweler up in her apartment, poured what they said was petrol over her head and threatened to ignite it if she did not tell them the codes for the alarm in her shop, Le Parisien said.

 

One of the thieves then headed to the store, stealing cash and jewels while the other stood guard over the 56-year-old jeweler, identified by the paper only as Anne. Before releasing her, he kissed her on the cheek.

 

Police extracted DNA from the kiss and it later led them to a man who was detained in the south of France on suspicion of another crime.

 

The man, 20, has said he was just a lookout and that he kissed the jeweler to "allay her trauma." Police were still looking for his accomplice, Le Parisien said.

 

Contacted by Reuters, the police declined to confirm the news report. —Reuters