The police in Los Angeles and the FBI have opened investigations into a daring heist of nearly $30 million in cash after burglars broke through the roof of a money storage facility and cracked a safe.
On Easter Sunday, one of the largest cash thefts in the history of Los Angeles took place in Sylmar, a northern suburb, according to David Cuellar of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The Los Angeles Times, citing a source familiar with the investigation, said burglars busted through a roof to access the building’s vault, somehow evading a sophisticated alarm system.
The complex theft, carried out by an experienced crew, was discovered on Monday when staff opened the vault, according to the newspaper.
“It’s just mind blowing that you would never suspect it,” an anonymous employee of the facility told ABC News.
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“$30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it. Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions.”
While the crime is reminiscent of Hollywood heist movies like “Ocean’s Eleven,” it follows a string of real-life, sophisticated break-ins in the region over the years.
Two years ago, thieves made off with up to $100 million in jewels from a truck parked at a highway rest stop en route to a gem and jewelry show in Los Angeles.
Last July, a man cut a hole in the ceiling of a high-end wine store near Venice Beach, before helping himself to $600,000 worth of fine Burgundy and Bordeaux vintages.
According to the LA Times, the largest previously known cash heist in the city’s history came in 1997, when $18.9 million was stolen from an armored depot. The thieves were eventually caught.