Seven people were arrested in connection with the robbery at a family-run Glendale jewelry store in May, where holes were cut into the roof of a business and millions of dollars worth of goods were stolen.
The May 27 robbery at the Biddles Jewelry Store, which has been operating in Glendale for over 40 years, was reported around 1am in the 1100 block of South Glendale Avenue, police said. The robber entered through the roof and then used a watt torch to tear the four safes to clean the contents.
Glendale Police have worked with other law enforcement agencies to identify several people suspected of robbery and launch a surveillance operation. The department received information suggesting that the same group was planning a robbery at Rodeo Jewels in the San Gabriel Valley community in Raverne.
“As the suspect tried to pass through the roof, law enforcement officials coordinated the group to be detained,” Glendale police said in a statement. “The suspect also used a signal jammer and cut the wires to that location during the incident.”
The suspect has been identified as a foreigner who may be involved in similar crimes in the United States and other countries, police said in a news release Tuesday that announced their arrests.
Law enforcement is investigating whether there are links to several recent burglaries of jewelry stores around Southern California. Eric Leonard reports NBC4’s report on May 29, 2025 at 6pm.
The Glendale jewelry business was founded 45 years ago by the parents of Manäle Bidolcia and received members of the family for generations. He called crime highly organized, calculated and experts. The burglar cut through the roof, melted the reinforced safe using torch guns, and robbed millions of dollars worth of store inventory, the family said.
The ammunition was kept in one of the safes, Bidrussian said. He estimated that the crime took several hours, taking into account the time required to cut down multiple safes.
Bidrussian said his alarm would not go out during the break-in.
The thief left a small gold necklace that featured a child kneeling in prayer.
The crime followed the robbery of another jewelry store on Sunday at the Simi Valley business, about 50 miles northwest of Glendale in Ventura County. A robbery was seen on a video of a raw security camera on Dr. Khon Kae’s candy and coffee floor before reaching for the security camera and blocking the view inside the candy store.
After clearing the safe, the robber drilled holes in the wall to access the five-star gem. The owner estimated the loss to be over $2 million.
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