Flailing and struggling amid a brutal assault, this is the moment showing how the daughter of a major cryptocurrency company executive and her two-year-old child were the victims of a violent attempted kidnapping in Paris.
The 34-year-old was walking down Rue Pache in the capital yesterday morning when three armed men approached her.
The group tried to force her and her toddler into a white van after hitting the child’s father, who tried to intervene.
Footage filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window also shows the woman – believed to be the daughter of a top crypto exec – grab a handgun belonging to the attackers before throwing it away.
In the footage, as he is being beaten, the father appears to be yelling, ‘Help! She’s pregnant!’
The victims’ screams eventually attracted attention, however, leading the attackers to flee in their van.
Passers-by can be seen arriving on the scene ready to assist as the assailants scrambled to freedom, with one desperately throwing a fire extinguisher at the van.
The vehicle was later abandoned on a nearby street, according to Le Parisien.
The 34-year-old was walking down Rue Pache in the capital yesterday morning when three armed men approached her
The victims’ screams eventually attracted attention, however, leading the attackers to flee in their van
The group had tried to force her and her toddler into a white van after hitting the child’s father, who tried to intervene
In the footage, as he is being beaten, the father appears to be yelling, ‘Help! She’s pregnant!’
Passers-by can be seen arriving on the scene ready to assist as the assailants scrambled to freedom
The Paris Judicial Police’s Anti-Banditism Brigade (BRB) has now been called in to investigate an attempted kidnapping.
The armed assailants are being hunted, but police have not yet revealed any details behind their motives.
However, the incident follows another cryptocurrency related kidnapping in the capital just days earlier.
On May 1, the father of a crypto entrepeneur spent more than 48 hours in a Paris building after being taken captive.
During the incident, the victim was injured and a ransom demand for several million was made, according to French media.
His finger was cut off, wth his captors filming the horrific act to send to his son.
Eventually, police smashed down the door and used non-lethal grenades to apprehend the kidnappers.
Five people have now been arrested and taken into custody.
The incident follows another cryptocurrency related kidnapping in the capital just days earlier
Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, said in relation to a previous crypto-related kidnapping: ‘A huge congratulations to the investigators who did an exceptional job freeing this man and arresting his captors’
Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, wrote at the time: ‘A huge congratulations to the investigators who did an exceptional job freeing this man and arresting his captors.’
A police source said the victim’s wife told investigators that her husband and son, who owned a crypto marketing firm in Malta, had received threats in the past.
In January, David Balland, a co-founder of French crypto firm Ledger, had his hand mutilated while he and his wife were kidnapped and held captive for severla hours.
The couple were found a day later after being tortured by the kidnappers, who demanded a €10 million ransom.
