Four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost sustained a minor head injury when masked intruders robbed his home in Nyon, Switzerland, earlier this week. Swiss media reported the incident Saturday. Prost is 71 years old.
According to a report by Yahoo Sports, Switzerland's largest-selling newspaper Blick said one of Prost's sons was forced to open the family safe before the assailants fled with its contents. The attack took place Tuesday at around 8:30 in the morning.
A statement issued Thursday from the Vaud cantonal police confirmed that a family in Nyon, northeast of Geneva, had been victimized at their home. Police declined to identify the victims. The statement said the perpetrators "entered the house while the occupants were present, threatened them, and forced one of the family members to open a safe before fleeing with stolen goods."
The full police statement described the sequence of events in detail. "Several masked individuals entered the house. Once inside, they threatened the occupants and slightly injured one family member in the head, under circumstances that are still being investigated. The perpetrators then forced another family member to open a safe before fleeing with stolen goods, of which the precise inventory is currently being assessed. The Vaud cantonal police immediately deployed a large-scale search operation," the statement said.
Despite the search, no arrests had been confirmed as of Saturday. The response involved multiple agencies, including the Vaud cantonal police, Nyon regional police, a dog unit, the forensic science unit, customs and border security, the French gendarmerie, and a psychological support team for the family.
A Vaud police spokesman told AFP on Saturday that the investigation remained ongoing. "Every effort is being made to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the attack," the spokesman said.
Blick reported that burglaries targeting wealthy individuals in the Lake Geneva region have increased sharply over the past year. Cross-border gangs from neighboring France have frequently been linked to the crimes, with high-value watch collections often among the targets.
Prost competed in Formula One from 1980 to 1993, driving for McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, and Williams. He won the drivers' championship in 1985, 1986, 1989, and 1993. Among drivers with four or more titles, only Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Juan Manuel Fangio have won more. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have also won the title four times, matching Prost's total.
The cantonal public prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation. It remains ongoing.
