"This Is Mind-Blowing Bad": Officials Investigate Brazen $30M Easter Heist In LA
Authorities in San Fernando Valley, California are investigating a $30 million cash heist at a money storage facility on Easter Sunday.
"This is mind-blowingly bad," said one Garda employee, KTLA5 reports. "You would never suspect it, $30 million in the Valley — gone."
The March 31st heist is among the largest in LA history.
According to the LA Times, the thieves entered the building through the roof, tripping no alarms - and there was no obvious sign of break-in on the vault itelf. Officials weren't even aware of the heist until the safe was opened Monday.
The thieves also cut a hole in the side off the building, which was later covered with plywood and has now been repaired, KTLA5 reports.
Both the LAPD and FBI have yet to comment on how the crew got away unnoticed.
One law enforcement official with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau who is not on this case told KTLA that money storage facilities like GardaWorld in Sylmar have multiple layers of security and other fortified systems, including alarms and motion sensors. -KTLA
So duh, clearly an inside job.
According to retired FBI Special-Agent-in-Charge of the LA field office Robert Clark, investigators "will try to determine who had access to the facility, who was aware of the schedule and knew that the money would be in the facility and [for] how long, the security around the facility and how much time they would be able to have to gain access and be able to move such a large amount of money."
Clark thinks there's a good chance the crew well get caught.
"I think the likelihood is very high because you don’t move that kind of money very quickly," he said. "It’s not like you’re grabbing a couple of checks and running out the door. To be able to liquidate [it] would be very difficult. You’ll have to have a team of individuals that do it."