More than $100 million worth of jewelry stolen from armored truck destined for Pasadena
By Web Staff
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LOS ANGELES COUNTY, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Millions of dollars worth of jewelry on its way to a jewelry and gem show at the Pasadena Convention Center was stolen from an armored truck in northern Los Angeles County.
“It’s all fine jewelry, very high tagged, and it’s just gone,” said a jeweler who did not want CBSLA to share his name.
He said that he’s one of the victims of the armored truck heist that included one of a kind pieces.
The high-end jewelry was last seen at a trade show in the San Mateo Event Center last weekend. Sunday night, merchandise belonging to 18 different jewelers was loaded onto a Brinks truck destined for the convention center in Pasadena.
“Sunday you had merchandise. Today, you don’t have anything,” the jeweler said.
The victims are part of the International Gem and Jewelry Show.
On Friday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed it’s working with the LA County Sheriff’s Department on the case, but the jewelers haven’t been able to get a straight answer from Brinks.
“They’re returning, sometimes, our calls, but there’s no information,” the jeweler said. “I don’t know if its under investigation. I don’t know. I can’t anything right now.”
The trade show’s manager said about two dozen lockers were stolen from the armored vehicle early Monday morning. The total loss comes to as much as $150 million.
For some of the vendors, they’ve built up their inventory over 40 years.
“It’s their whole life,” said Brandy Swanson, manager of the International Gem and Jewelry Show. “Some of these people are completely done at this point.”
The jeweler said that he doesn’t have a showroom. All of his business is done by traveling to trade shows, one by one, so this was more than just merchandise to him.
“My life. That’s how I live, that’s how I feed my kids. I have kids below the age of 13,” he explained.
CBSLA reached out to Brinks for comment, but was unable to get a hold of anyone at the armored truck company after business hours.
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