Millions in gold, jewels stolen by burglars who tunneled into downtown L.A. jewelers

Los Angeles Times ^ | April 15, 2025 9:30 A | Richard Winton

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Millions of dollars in gold and jewels were stolen from a downtown Los Angeles jeweler’s two enormous safes after burglars tunneled into the Broadway shop through multiple reinforced walls, police said.

In a security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castle-like wall, making a hole big enough for a person to slip through to enter Love Jewels, Reina de Oro at Broadway and 5th Street.

Los Angeles Police say the thieves sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning cut through a room next to the gold merchant at 510 S. Broadway. LAPD Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said the owners informed the department that the thieves took about $5 million worth of merchandise. In an interview with KTTV, the owner said the loss was upwards of $20 million.

The store with heavy security is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets and enormous racks of gold chains.

Investigators say the burglars, after entering, cut the security camera feed so there are no images of them inside the business. But LAPD forensic experts are examining the scene for fingerprints and DNA.

The jewelers uncovered the massive heist Monday morning when they arrived at their shop.

Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business.

[Responsibility2nd]

Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business.

Sounds like an Inside Job to me.

[Responsibility2nd]

The store with heavy security is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets and enormous racks of gold chains.

I bet they don't make that boast anymore.

[Carry_Okie]

I cannot imagine why this break-in wasn’t detected in time to interdict.

This stinks of an insurance job. Were I the LAPD, I’d be interviewing people at the security company.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

gold Rolex watch straps

China was not going to be re-supplying them, anyway.

[hanamizu]

Reminds me of the Sherlock Holmes story “The Red-Headed League”.

[dennisw]

Inside job for sure to get past the security systems. A mole in the jewelry store or in the security systems installer. Fly in. Do the job. Fly out to a foreign country.

[Leaning Right]

> In a security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castle-like wall <

During WW2 the Germans would sometimes bury sound-detection devices in the ground around prison camps. Those devices could pick up sounds of tunnel digging.

You’d think a store holding $20 million+ would have a few of those installed, and linked to a police station.

[ridesthemiles]

“DE FUND THE POLICE” WORKING NOW????

[wally_bert]

Makings of a future episode of the Rookie.

[abb]

[Vaquero]

“Hole in the wall gang” from 80s Los Vegas. From the movie ‘Casino’

[wally_bert]

Check out the building contractor.

It was good enough for a Hawaii Five 0.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0598192/

The Meighan Conspiracy.

It has Barbara Anderson at least.

[Seruzawa]

Fingerprints and DNA? They could pull this off but they were to stupid to wear gloves?

[DesertRhino]

Spent several hours inside? That place had no internal alarms or surveillance?

[gibsonguy]

“The store with heavy security is known for being the source of bling for rappers”

I think you are right, inside job.

[Captain Peter Blood]

And they thieves will be lucky to get maybe $0.25 or so on the dollar for their trouble.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Sounds exactly like the plot from James Caan’s movie “Thief”, 1980.

[LukeL]

Usually high end places like this have alarms that are also seismic and thermal in nature.

[Larry Lucido]

I think I’ve seen this in a movie before.