Before George Floyd became a name known across the world, he partook in a home invasion involving a gang of men who robbed a pregnant woman at gunpoint, an act he served five years in prison for.
However, a similar case has now occurred in France, with fake postal workers threatening a pregnant woman with a pistol after bursting into her home and tying her up.
The woman, who was in her home in the 13th arrondissement of Paris on Friday, had the three criminals burst into her house at 12:55 p.m. in the Maison Blanche neighborhood. A female member of the robbery team had disguised herself as a postal worker and rang the doorbell of the apartment. Another tenant let her in, at which point she and her partners burst into the apartment with a gun.
They forced the woman into a bedroom and tied her up with orange tape. They then took an unsealed safe and two luxury watches before fleeing the scene, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.
Once the victim freed herself, she called the police.
“She is pregnant and in deep shock,” said a police source.
The woman is a manager of a well-known cafe on Rue de Rivoli. She was not taken to the hospital.
Police have some clues to work off of, including a street surveillance camera that captured the suspects’ car. They used a hybrid SUV and drove it towards the A6 motorway after the home invasion. They are still on the run.
Robbers are increasingly posing as fake package delivery workers to conduct home invasions, especially against high-profile targets with money, including well-known celebrities and businesspeople. As Remix News reported, the gangs of youths are often young foreigners or those with a migration background, often run by older gang members who know that these suspects face little in terms of jail time due to their age.
In the case of George Floyd, he was sentenced to five years in prison in 2009 for an assault and robbery committed two years earlier. He was convicted after pleading guilty to entering a pregnant woman’s home and jabbing a gun in her stomach while searching for money and drugs, according to court documents.
According to the court report, the pregnant victim said the largest member of the group, who she identified as Floyd, “forced his way inside the residence, placed a pistol against the complainant’s abdomen, and forced her into the living room area of the residence.”
“This large suspect then proceeded to search the residence while another armed suspect guarded the complainant, who was struck in the head and sides by this second armed suspect with his pistol while she screamed for help.”