Thieves tunneled through a concrete wall to rob a jewelry store in Los Angeles. According to the police, the value of the stolen goods is some $10 million (US)!
A robbery in the heart of the city
The robbery took place on April 13, around 9:30 pm, at the Love Jewel store, located on Broadway Street downtown. Among the items taken were gold watches, pendants and chains.
A hole drilled from the adjacent building
According to Officer David Cuellar of the Los Angeles Police Department, investigators examined CCTV footage showing the suspects entering the store through a large hole they had drilled from the adjacent building, an abandoned theater.
An unknown number of burglars
An undetermined number of burglars fled through this same hole, then fled in a late-model Chevrolet truck, said Officer Cuellar.
Weeks to dig the tunnel
The owners of Love Jewels believe the thieves worked very hard to tunnel their way into their store: "They probably went in there every night, slowly dug it until there was enough room for them to get in," the owner's son, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC News.
Loss estimates by police authorities
According to Agent Cuellar, initial estimates of losses were $10 million. However, he added that this figure could change.
20 million stolen, according to owners
In an interview with KTTV, the owners of Love Jewels said the losses exceeded $20 million.
A precisely orchestrated theft
"They were able to disable the cameras, disable the alarm and they were able to get into both the safes," explained the owner's son.
"All our money was in the safe"
"In the gold business, you reinvest everything so all our money was what was in the safe, them to get in," he added.
Cutting the safe
The owners think it took the thieves several hours to cut out their safe!
Theft discovered when store opened
The theft was not discovered until the employees arrived at work the following morning. The images are striking.