News of the break-in at Love Jewels quickly spread among the owner’s families through incredible text messages.
Someone had broken into the store over the weekend, so the first workers to arrive told others and they broke into one of the money.
However, when relatives arrived at the business on Broadway and Fifth Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Monday morning, the extent of the loss was clear. Millions of dollars of gold and jewels were gone, and it was written all over the owner’s face.
“When I got here, I saw my dad’s reaction and I knew they had it all,” the shopkeeper’s son told The Times Wednesday.
On Sunday night, police say a group of thieves determined to have excavated multiple walls around the old Roxy Theatre in downtown, hammering, climbed, entered Love Jewels and Reina de Oro, stealing an estimated $10 million worth of goods.
Thieves cleared display cases at Love Jewels, Reina de Oro, and escaped millions of dollars of gold and jewels.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
A video of the aftermath posted by the shop on social media showed that the business office was completely confused.
A handful of earrings and silver chains remained there on Wednesday.
“There’s nothing left,” the owner said. The contents of the safe were a savings to the family’s lives and were uninsured, he said.
LAPD investigators determined the robbery began around 9:30pm on Sunday, but the family said theft crew may have previously begun cutting back on the adjacent property. The robber is considered to be an expert who has spent hours in the business. The robbery trick could help narrow down the search for suspects.
The family said security alarms for the business were deactivated and ring camera feeds from the store were reduced hours before 10pm, making it difficult to pin them when the break-in begins.
The family is offering a $100,000 reward for recovering goods, and for the time being, it will only operate online, the owner said.
The thief drilled a hole in the safe of Reina de Oro, the jewel of love, and escaped with millions of dollars of gold and jewels.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
In the meantime, the FBI’s main theft task force intervened to assist in the investigation.
Security cameras from nearby businesses caught a robber while coming and going to an empty storefront. At one point, they dragged the trash cans out of the car and, according to their family, appeared to be wearing construction equipment.
In the intrusion security video you can hear a huge drill carved into the wall, like the main castle.
LapdCapt oversees the central division of the division. RaulJover said the burglars moved the tunnel from the vacant storefront to the building.
“They went to a really thick old wall. They went to one small room and then the second wall,” Jovel said. “This was a serious drill.”
This was not the first time a robber had run at Love Jewels.
A similar robbery was stopped about 13 years ago when the perpetrator got involved in the act, the owner said.
LAPD investigators say they cut their security camera feed after the recent robbery entered. There are no images of them in the business. However, LAPD forensics experts are examining fingerprint and DNA scenes.
The family believes there will be more security footage from nearby businesses showing the suspect’s vehicle, and asks anyone with more information to share with police. GoFundMe was set up to help families offset costs and bring their business to light.
Source link
