The LAPD and FBI are investigating how thieves in Sylmar, Los Angeles, managed to escape with millions of dollars from a secure facility over the Easter weekend.
In a heist that would make a good Hollywood script, an unknown number of thieves tunneled into the GardaWorld cash holding facility in San Fernando Valley and made off with approximately $30 million in cash. It is the biggest cash heist in LA history.
In the early hours of Easter Sunday, thieves managed to break into the high-security facility without triggering any alarms and cleared tens of millions of cash from the vault.
The crime was not discovered until Monday morning when shocked employees opened the vault.
Images have since emerged of a boarded-up part of the building with debris lying nearby, but it’s unclear if that is related to the burglary.
One unnamed employee told reporters, “It’s just mind-blowing that you would never suspect it. $30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it. Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions.”
Sylmar heist thieves may have stolen even more than $30 million
These are questions the LAPD and FBI will also be asking as, so far, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been named.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe FBI is still trying to determine the exact figure taken, but the $30 million figure is the most reported.
Employees said they were even unsure how much money was being held in the facility and that it was possible an even higher figure was stolen.
Heist expert says Sylmar thieves had robbery planned out
LA-based attorney Scott Selby told NBC Los Angeles the thieves “knew what they were doing. They knew when to go.”
Selby, an expert on heists, also claimed that the high-tech secure facility is actually in a good location for thieves. The expert said, “Location is everything, both if you’re running a cash management company and if you’re a thief, and so this warehouse is in the San Fernando Valley, and it’s about four minutes away from two different freeways. So you can hop on the five or the 204 and just be gone.”
The expert also suggested that the Ocean’s Eleven-style thieves will have to show the same level of professionalism after the theft as they displayed during it if they want to avoid capture.
GardaWorld is a Canadian based company that deals in transporting and holding cash. Most readers will be familiar with GardaWorld’s armored trucks, which are regularly seen on American roads. The company is generally perceived as having a good reputation in cash management.