A huge heist has left a Los Angeles family “penniless” after robbers made off with nearly $20 million worth of jewellery. The elaborate and well-planned robbery occurred on Sunday night, April 13, at Love Jewels, resulting in a joint investigation by LAPD and the FBI.
Robbers gained access to the family-run business around 10 p.m. after tunnelling through a three-foot-thick wall from an adjacent vacant building, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Authorities are yet to determine the number of suspects involved in the robbery, which seems like a scene from a movie.
LAPD Officer David Cuellar confirmed that the suspects “tunnelled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location.” The suspects managed to go into the jewellery store, swipe all the jewellery and get out undetected. No alarms were triggered, and both the store’s security system and surveillance cameras were disabled. The then perpetrators fled the scene in a Chevrolet truck.
The robbery was not discovered until the following day when workers arrived at the store. On Monday, employees discovered the two safes emptied and a gaping hole in the wall. The breach has since been covered with a metal plate as cleanup and minor repairs began.
According to the store owner’s son, the suspects reportedly spent several hours inside the store, taking their time to open two large safes and remove all merchandise.
“They were able to disable the cameras and disable the alarm, and they were able to get into both the safes,” said the store owner’s son in an interview with NBC 4. “They probably had five or six hours in here.”
Initially, the loss was estimated to be $10 million, but the store owner later told the Associated Press that the stolen jewellery was worth closer to $20 million. The store specialised in gold, particularly chains and bracelets, which have increased in value with current market prices.
The devastating heist has left the family-run business suffering a huge financial loss as their jewellery was not insured. “It took over 20 years for my father to accumulate all that, and overnight it was all taken,” said the owner’s son. “In the gold business, you reinvest everything, so all our money was what was in the safe. We’re penniless, literally penniless.”
He also believes that the heist was carefully orchestrated over several days, possibly with suspects making repeated visits to dig through the wall.