Thieves Snag $30 Million in California Easter Heist

(Dreamstime)

Thieves made off with approximately $30 million in cash from a money storage facility in California’s San Fernando Valley on Easter Sunday, ABC News reported.

Law enforcement sources told the news outlet the heist took place at a GardaWorld facility in Sylmar, about 21 miles outside of Los Angeles.

The thieves broke into the facility through the roof and managed to avoid setting off alarms when they accessed the money storage area, which may have been a vault, officials familiar with the investigation told ABC.

The burglars were reportedly so stealthy that the business operators did not discover the massive theft had taken place until they opened the vault when they opened for business Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to the Times’ law enforcement sources, few people would have known how much cash was stored within the safe at the nondescript facility.

Sources told the newspaper the elaborate break-in was likely the work of an experienced crew of burglars.

An employee at the GardaWorld facility who spoke with ABC on condition of anonymity was shocked to hear about the theft.

“It’s just mind blowing that you would never suspect it,” he said. “Thirty 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.”

Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. Elaine Morales confirmed to the Times that the heist is one of the largest in city history when it comes to cash.

According to the New York Post, as of Thursday, the incident remained under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI.

The Easter Sunday robbery came nearly two years after as much as $100 million in jewels and other valuables were stolen from an armored big rig at a Grapevine truck stop at 3 a.m.

That theft, which remains unsolved, took place during a 27-minute window when one driver slept and the other ate a meal at the Flying J.

According to the Times, the thieves in that incident stuffed more than 20 large bags with jewelry, gems, and other valuables that the tractor-trailer had been transporting from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo to the L.A. area.