Hotel Worker Arrested in Theft of Nadal's $375,000 Watch

Jun 18, 12 | 12:01 am

By Barbara De Lollis

An employee at a five-star hotel in Paris was charged earlier this week in the hotel-room theft of a jewel-encrusted watch worth more money than many people's homes.

The watch — worth about $375,000 - belonged to Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, who had left it behind while playing the French Open.

Watchmaker Richard Mille had let Nadal borrow the timepiece for the French Open, which he won on Monday for a record seventh time.

Police investigate

Police suspected an inside job, since the suite hadn't been forcibly entered and only Nadal, his parents and girlfriend had a key, London's Telegraph says.

Ultimately, a 38-year-old bartender at the hotel was arrested after he was identified via a magnetic key card used to access the room.

The man confessed and the absurdly expensive watch was recovered.

What Hotel Check-In can't figure out is how the hotel managed to remain unidentified in all the stories. Don't police reports in Paris cite location of the reported incident?

The Telegraph calls it a "five-star hotel in the chic eighth arrondissement."

London's Daily Mail calls it a "five-star luxury Paris hotel."

The Associated Press refers to it the "luxury hotel in Paris' 8th district."

France's AFP refers to it as "a hotel."

I don't know about you, but if I was traveling with expensive jewelry, I'd want to know which hotel let this happen.

Nadal, however, apparently doesn't feel the same way.

According to the AFP, he praised the police for doing their job and also praised the hotel - though not by name.

"I cannot say anything wrong about the hotel. They were great for me every time I was there, for the last, I think, eight years. I'll be back in the hotel next year," Nadal said.

Source: USA Today