You might remember that last year Formula One superstar Charles Leclerc became the victim of a robbery in Italy when some thieves pretending to be his fans stole his Richard Mille RM 67-02 watch. A year later, the authorities investigating the matter finally arrested four people who are believed to be the perpetrators of the high-profile robbery. The Italian police issued a press release announcing three men and one woman were arrested for the robbery in Viareggio, a seaside town in Tuscany. Interestingly, a video from that evening has also been released after the arrests in which Leclerc can be seen chasing the thieves in his custom Ferrari 488 Pista like Batman, which reportedly helped the authorities track down the criminals involved in the robbery.
According to local reports, the Ferrari F1 driver was walking around the Viareggio with his friends and trainer on the night of the robbery when he was approached by one or more fans asking to take pictures. It was during this interaction that one of the perpetrators managed to slip off the one-of-a-kind Richard Mille from Leclerc’s wrist and escape. According to the new details revealed after the arrests, two of the thieves took off on a scooter and later delivered the timepiece to two people in a grey SUV. In the first part of the footage, the SUV can be seen closely following Leclerc’s Ferrari.
The second part of the video shows the scooter thieves approaching the driver of the SUV, which is where the exchange of the watch might have taken place. While Leclerc chose not to confront the robbers as it could have resulted in a very dangerous situation, he reportedly managed to get the SUV’s license plate information, which ultimately proved to be instrumental in the criminals’ identification and arrest.
The Italian police claim that they found $25,000 and recovered two valuable watches during a search of one of the suspects’ homes, but authorities could not say if either watch belonged to Leclerc. It’s highly unlikely that the F1 driver’s Richard Mille watch would still be in the possession of those who carried out the robbery. There was a report last year that suggested the bespoke watch had reached Spain after selling for a fraction of its real value.
Leclerc’s unique Richard Mille RM 67-02 watch
Charles Leclerc has been associated with Richard Mille for a very long time. In fact, the luxury watch brand has been supporting the Monégasque racing driver for more than a decade. Talking about Leclerc during the launch of RM 67-02, Richard Mille said: “Since his early days in karting, I have closely followed Charles’ progress. Noted for his times, and his speedy qualifiers, the driver attracted my attention and enthusiasm, immediately convincing the brand to support his budding talent.” The Richard Mille RM 67-02 stolen from Leclerc is a one-of-a-kind prototype that features his signature on the case and is hand-painted in the colors of his flag. While initial reports claimed that the watch was worth $320,000, it is believed that the bespoke Richard Mille could be actually worth a whopping $2 million.
