Early last week, an armored truck out in California was pinned in a robbery in which the thieves managed to escape with multiple millions of dollars worth of gems and other valuable goods.
“My life. That’s how I live. That’s how I feed my kids,” expressed one of the jewelers impacted by the thefts to KPIX, a subsidiary of CBS. “Sunday you had merchandise. Today you don’t have anything.” The man explained that all of his work was done by making trips out to various trade shows.
The security company which failed at its mission to stop the heist, Brink’s Co., stated that the customers who had their goods stolen while the company was transporting them in the truck claimed that the entire value of all stolen pieces tallied up to just under $10 million.
“According to the information the customers provided to us before they shipped their items, the total value of the missing items is less than $10 million,” explained the company via a statement. “We are working with law enforcement, and we will fully reimburse our customers for the value of their assets that were stolen, in accordance with the terms of our contract.”
One spokeswoman for Brink’s Co., Dana Callahan, stated that the belongings were taken early in the morning on the 11th of July. The robbery happened while in Los Angeles County, nearby to Frazier Park, which is a town of roughly 3,000 people about 50 miles from Los Angeles proper, stated Laura Eimiller, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Eimiller is the spokeswoman in L.A. representing the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both the L.A. County Sheriff’s office alongside the FBI are working to carry out an investigation into the heist.
The stolen items were making their way from an event hosted by the International Gem and Jewelry Show close by to San Francisco out to another location located in Pasadena, read a report from Brandy Swanson, the director of events for the group.
Despite the statement from Callahan claiming that the total value of the stolen goods sat just under $10 million, another anonymous jeweler stated to the Times that such a haul would be closer to the range of $20 million to $50 million. The same anonymous jeweler also stated to the Times that the company was not being at all clear with any of the actual owners of the stolen items and that a staggering amount of simple questions regarding the situation were remaining unanswered.
It was reported by The New York Post that Swanson claimed that the amount lost was well over $100 million, but reports from CBS stated that some of the vendors claimed it could even be as much as $150 million.
“It’s their whole life. Some of these people are completely done at this point,” explained Swanson.
Events surrounding the heist have not yet been made clear, but the items stolen seem to include multiple high-value gold and diamond necklaces. As of writing, neither the company nor the officials have issued a statement as to exactly where the heist took place or if anyone was injured in the process.
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