Los Angeles police and the FBI are probing a brazen robbery involving over $30 million in cash after robbers allegedly burst through the top of a money storage facility and shattered a safe.
According to David Cuellar of the Los Angeles Police Department, the crime, one of the greatest cash thefts in the city’s history, occurred on Easter Sunday in Sylmar, a northern suburb.
According to a person involved with the inquiry, burglars broke through a roof to get access to the building’s vault, despite a sophisticated alarm system.
The complicated and complex crime appeared to be the work of an experienced crew, and it was discovered on Monday when workers entered the vault, according to the newspaper.
“It’s just mind-blowing that you would never suspect it,” one anonymous plant employee told ABC News.
“$30 million in the Valley is gone. How? Why? I am still trying to process it. Was this an inside job? Was it only one person? Was this a group? You know, there are many questions.”
While the crime is evocative of Hollywood heist films such as “Ocean’s Eleven,” it follows a series of real-life, sophisticated break-ins in the area throughout the years.
Two years ago, burglars stole up to $100 million in diamonds from a truck parked at a highway rest stop on the way to a gem and jewelry show in Los Angeles.
Last July, a guy punched a hole in the roof of a high-end wine store near Venice Beach before stealing $600,000 in rare Burgundy and Bordeaux wines.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the largest previously known cash robbery in the city’s history occurred in 1997, when $18.9 million was taken from an armored depot. The thieves were eventually apprehended.