On Easter Sunday, Los Angeles witnessed one of its most significant cash thefts ever, with robbers absconding with up to $30 million during a sophisticated burglary at a money storage facility in the San Fernando Valley, as confirmed by an official from the Los Angeles Police Department.
The heist occurred late Sunday at a Sylmar location where cash collected from various businesses in the area is securely stored, disclosed L.A.
Police Department Commander Elaine Morales.
Successfully penetrating both the exterior defenses and the safe of the facility, the criminals managed to execute what law enforcement officials describe as one of the largest cash thefts in the city’s history, outstripping any previous armored-car robberies in terms of the cash amount involved.
The Mystery Deepens
Insiders familiar with the ongoing investigation shared with The Times that the perpetrators entered the Gardaworld premises on Roxford Street by cutting through the roof to access the vault. The method by which they circumvented the alarm system remains a puzzle.
Gardaworld, the Canada-based firm owning the facility, has yet to make any public comments regarding the incident.
The enormity of the theft was only discovered when the facility’s operators unlocked the vault on Monday. Video footage from a news helicopter operated by ABC-7 TV captured an image of a large hole on the building’s side, hastily covered with plywood.
Upon being notified, detectives from the LAPD’s Mission Division station were dispatched to the scene to collect evidence and investigate further.
A law enforcement insider informed The Times about an attempted breach on the building’s side in addition to the roof entry. During the theft, at least one alarm was set off; however, it failed to alert local police forces. This detail was shared by a source not authorized for public disclosure.
Adding to the case’s complexity is the fact that only a limited number of people knew about the substantial amounts of cash stored within the safe, pointing to the possibility of insider knowledge aiding the burglary.
Described as a highly sophisticated operation, the crime indicates the involvement of a seasoned burglary crew with extensive knowledge on infiltrating secure locations without detection.
Scott Andrew Selby, co-author of “Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History,” remarked on the heist’s professional execution, suggesting the likelihood of insider information being used. Selby mentioned that investigators would be on the lookout for similar crimes globally.
Whether the stolen funds can be traced back to the culprits depends on the existence of serial number records or if the stolen cash was already in circulation. Selby noted the increasing difficulty in concealing and laundering marked bills, emphasizing that technological advancements and forensic methods such as touch DNA could easily compromise the identity of the thieves or their associates.
The FBI has joined the LAPD in the investigation, confirmed by an agency spokeswoman on Wednesday night. A federal informant indicated that this could be the largest cash robbery in Los Angeles history, surpassing the previous record set by a $18.9 million theft from the Dunbar Armored facility in 1997, a case that was eventually solved.
This recent heist follows another major robbery nearly two years prior, involving the theft of up to $100 million in jewels from a Brink’s truck.
Historically, burglaries involving roof entries have been rare in Southern California, with notable exceptions over the past decades, including a series of bank thefts in the San Gabriel Valley and a significant wine theft in Venice.
Source: https://www.foxla.com/news/los-angeles-30-million-dollar-cash-heist
