Burglars steal $30 million on Easter in one of L.A.'s biggest heists - Los Angeles Times

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-03/sylmar-burglary-money-storage-facility-30-million


CALIFORNIA

Burglars steal as much as $30 million in one of L.A.’s largest cash heists
ever, LAPD seeks clues
Los Angeles police headquarters downtown.

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that the agency and the Los
Angeles Police Department are investigating the theft. Above, LAPD’s
headquarters downtown. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
By Richard Winton
Staff Writer

In one of the largest cash heists in Los Angeles history, thieves made off
with as much as $30 million in an Easter Sunday burglary at a San Fernando
Valley money storage facility, an L.A. police official said.

The burglary occurred Sunday night at a facility in Sylmar where cash from
businesses across the region is handled and stored, said L.A. Police
Department Cmdr. Elaine Morales.

The thieves were able to breach the building as well as the safe where the
money was stored, Morales said. Law enforcement sources said the burglary
was among the largest in city history when it comes to cash, and the total
also surpassed any armored-car heist in the city.

Mystery surrounds the break-in.

Sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that a burglary crew
broke through the roof of the Gardaworld building on Roxford Street to gain
access to the vault. But it is unclear how they avoided the alarm system.

The Canada-based security company has not responded to requests for comment.

The operators of the business did not discover the massive theft until they
opened the vault Monday. An ABC-7 TV news helicopter video showed a large
cut on the side of the building covered by a piece of plywood.

Authorities were alerted, and detectives from the LAPD’s Mission Division
station responded to the crime scene to gather evidence.

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A law enforcement source confirmed to The Times there was an effort to
breach the side of the cash-holding building in addition to the roof. At
least one alarm was triggered during the crime, but it was not connected to
local law enforcement, according to a source familiar with the
investigation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

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Further adding to the intrigue is that very few individuals would have
known of the huge sums of cash being kept in that safe, according to law
enforcement sources.


The break-in was described as elaborate and suggested an experienced crew
who knew how to gain entry to a secure facility and go unnoticed.

Scott Andrew Selby, co-author of “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond
Heist in History,” said that the theft has “all the markings of a really
well-thought-out job” that was done by a “professional crew,” adding that
based on other major heists of this nature, it is likely that the thieves
had some inside intelligence.

He said investigators will be “looking around the globe for crimes with a
similar M.O.”

As to whether the money is traceable, Selby said it depends on whether
there are records of serial numbers or the cash that was collected is
already in circulation. It is hard to hide ill-gotten gains and launder
traceable bills, he said.

“As technology progresses and the world gets small, there are a lot of ways
you can mess up and get caught,” Selby said. “With touch DNA, the slightest
mistake can expose the identity of a member of the crew, leading
authorities to eventually identify their associates.”

An FBI spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday night that the agency and the LAPD
are investigating the theft.

A federal source said investigators were trying to complete a full
accounting of the missing cash, but said it could be the largest cash heist
in L.A.’s history.

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The prior largest cash robbery in Los Angeles was on Sept. 12, 1997, with
the theft of $18.9 million from the former site of the Dunbar Armored
facility on Mateo Street. Those behind the incident were eventually caught.

Sunday’s theft comes nearly two years after the multimillion-dollar heist
of jewelry from a Brink’s big rig at a Grapevine truck stop.

As much as $100 million in jewels and valuables was taken from the truck.

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In that case, thieves made off with the goods at 3 a.m. on July 11, 2022,
taking more than 20 large bags stuffed with jewelry, gems and other items
that the Brink’s tractor-trailer had been transporting to the L.A. area
from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo.


The heist occurred during a 27-minute window in which one driver slept in
the vehicle’s sleeper berth and another ate a meal at the Flying J, a
sprawling truck stop just off Interstate 5’s sinuous Grapevine in Lebec,
Calif.

That crime remains unsolved.

Since a burglary crew broke through the reinforced roof of a Laguna Niguel
bank and blew a hole in the safe more than four decades ago, it’s been
extremely rare in Southern California for thieves to break in from above.

But a decade ago, rooftop bandits breached a series of banks in strip malls
across the San Gabriel Valley. They stole at least $16 million before five
were caught by the major crimes unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department.


Last July, a burglary crew broke in through the roof of a wine specialist
in Venice, making off with about 800 bottles worth about $600,000 — one of
the biggest crimes in California wine history.

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Richard Winton
Twitter
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Richard Winton is an investigative crime writer for the Los Angeles Times
and part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in
2011. Known as @lacrimes on Twitter, during almost 30 years at The Times he
also has been part of the breaking news staff that won Pulitzers in 1998,
2004 and 2016.

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