(RightWing.org) – Burglary is a disturbing and unpleasant crime, but it isn’t usually a high-value one. Most burglars are low-grade criminals who want to steal jewelry or electronics they can sell for drug money. However, the Easter weekend saw a much more ambitious break-in. This one netted tens of millions of dollars in cash.
On March 31 — Easter Sunday — thieves broke into a money storage location in Los Angeles. The facility handles and stores cash for local businesses, and it can have large amounts of it in its vault. Late on Easter Sunday, enterprising thieves climbed onto its roof and cut a large hole in the side of the building; when that didn’t get them inside they broke through the roof instead.
Somehow they bypassed most of the alarm system — one alarm went off, but it wasn’t connected to local law enforcement — and made their way to the vault. They then managed to open it and got away with up to $30 million in cash.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the crime, but so far they haven’t named any suspects. In fact, they haven’t even named the facility, although media images show it’s operated by Canadian-based private security company Gardaworld.
Police described the break-in as “elaborate,” suggesting this was the work of experienced thieves. Attention is likely to focus on who could have known there was so much money in the vault when the crime took place, and that probably won’t be a long list. Crime author Scott Andrew-Selby says this looks like the work of a “professional crew,” and cops will be looking at similar crimes around the world to find potential suspects.
This could be the largest theft of cash in Los Angeles history. In 1997, thieves stole $18.9 million from a storage facility. Two years ago up to $100 million in jewelry was stolen from a Brinks truck — but this crime netted dollar bills, and they might not even be traceable.
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