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Suspects in Ritz jewel heist jailed on preliminary charges

PARIS (AP) - Three suspects in the bold jewelry robbery that took place on the ground floor of Paris' Ritz Hotel have been handed preliminary charges.

A judicial official said on Saturday that the three were jailed and put under investigation for organized armed robbery with threats and voluntary violence with arms in a group, among other charges.

The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and couldn't be named.

Two alleged accomplices escaped after the Wednesday evening heist. Authorities have said they recovered all the stolen merchandise, which had an estimated value of about 4.5 million euros ($5.4 million).

According to police accounts, the three entered a service door, smashed jewelry stands with axes and threw bags of items out a window to accomplices who fled in a car and on a scooter.

A valet waits outside the Ritz hotel in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Paris police have recovered some jewels stolen from the Ritz Hotel in a multimillion-euro robbery attempt, but are still searching Thursday for two thieves and the rest of the missing luxury merchandise. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) The Associated Press
People enter the Ritz hotel in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2018. Paris police have recovered some jewels stolen from the Ritz Hotel in a multimillion-euro robbery attempt, but are still searching Thursday for two thieves and the rest of the missing luxury merchandise. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) The Associated Press
In this image made from video, French police attend the scene outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France, after a robbery Wednesday evening Jan. 10, 2018. Police said Wednesday that five people, at least some armed, entered the luxury Ritz Hotel and made off with goods, likely to be jewels, worth “an important” sum, and reported that three robbers were arrested and two escaped capture.(Clement Lanot via AP) The Associated Press
In this image made from video, French police attend the scene outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France, after a robbery Wednesday evening Jan. 10, 2018. Police said Wednesday that five people, at least some armed, entered the luxury Ritz Hotel and made off with goods, likely to be jewels, worth “an important” sum, and reported that three robbers were arrested and two escaped capture.(Clement Lanot via AP) The Associated Press
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