Suspects arrested in Kardashian Paris robbery case

Authorities in Paris and southern France rounded up 16 suspects on Monday in connection with the burglary, which took place during 2016's Paris Fashion Week.

The 36-year-old Kardashian, an American socialite and social media star known for her reality TV series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," was tied up and locked in a bathroom after a gang of armed men burst into her Paris apartment in October, making off with around $9.5 million (9 million euros) worth of jewelry.

Kardashian's spokesperson said at the time that the reality star, who is married to the rapper Kanye West, was "badly shaken but physically unharmed."

Suspect known to police

Police arrested the suspects and held some of them for questioning after finding DNA evidence in the apartment. One of the suspects was a "a major thug" known to police for previous offenses, a police source was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

The gang is believed to have escaped by bicycle following the robbery. A diamond pendant was found on the street by a passer-by and returned to the authorities shortly after news of the incident broke.

Kardashian addressed the incident for the first time publically during a promotional ad for her reality show released this weekend. "They're going to shoot me in the back," she tells her sister tearfully in the clip. "It makes me so upset to think about it."

The reality star filed a formal complaint in France after she was captured on video at the apartment where the robbery took place. Her lawyers said the video was made without her consent.

blc/msh (dpa, AFP, Reuters)