Police are searching for a group of thieves who stole nearly US$20 million in jewelry and cash after they tunnelled into a downtown Los Angeles jewelry store on April 13.
The owners of Love Jewels said they’re out millions of dollars following the break-in after the thieves stole watches, pendants, gold chains and other merchandise.
The heist happened around 9:30 p.m. at Love Jewels in the heart of Los Angeles’ downtown jewelry district, according to officer David Cuellar with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Investigators are reviewing security camera footage that shows the suspects entering the store from a large hole they drilled from the property next door, Cuellar revealed.
“They tunnelled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” Cuellar shared on Tuesday.
An unknown number of suspects fled through the same hole and drove off in a late-model Chevy truck, he said. The heist wasn’t discovered until store employees arrived for work Monday morning.
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The owner of the store suspects that the thieves took weeks to tunnel into their store and alleged they used the abandoned theatre next door to their location to create it.
“They probably went in there every night, slowly dug it until there was enough room for them to get in,” the store owner’s son, who wanted to remain anonymous, told NBC4 Los Angeles.
The jewelry store is a family-run shop and the owners told the outlet they’re at a loss of upwards of $20 million and do not have insurance. Police did not confirm that figure but said they are still investigating the crime.
On Monday, Love Jewels employees discovered that two large safes had been broken into, containing all the merchandise they had in the store.
“We’re penniless, literally penniless,” Rita, the store’s owner, revealed.
“In the gold business, you reinvest everything so all our money was what was in the safe,” the son added.
The son also alleged that the thieves were able to disable the camera and the alarm in the store. He also claimed that they were believed to be in the store for five to six hours.
Detectives examined the scene for fingerprints and DNA, police said.
On Tuesday, Love Jewels employees covered up the hole in the wall where the thieves created the tunnel with a metal plate and repaired other damages in the store while cleaning up overturned display cases and discarded boxes.
“It took over 20 years for my father to accumulate all that and overnight it was all taken. Mostly just gold, chains, we specialize in gold, so chains and bracelets. And especially with gold today, it’s at an all-time high. It’s a bad hit. I was telling them, let’s get out of the business,” the store owner’s son told Fox 11 Los Angeles.
— with files from The Associated Press
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