The owner of a well-fortified San Gabriel Valley jewelry store is reeling after thieves managed to break in and get away with some $800,000 worth of diamonds, gold and cash.
The May 15 incident occurred late at night when a crew of four to five burglars broke into Desiré Jewelry in Glendora, disabled the shop’s alarm system and surveillance cameras, hauled in heavy equipment and spent six hours cutting into the store’s safes.
Monir Kassis, the owner of Desiré, didn’t discover the burglary until May 18.
Retracing the thieves’ steps, he told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell that the crooks busted through the roof of his shop on Glendora Avenue and got away with all his inventory.
“There’s a big bag of diamonds, about 600 carats of diamonds in that bag,” he said, “and a lot of gold chains, a lot of gold for repair.”
Before the store’s surveillance cameras were disabled, they recorded the sound of thieves hauling in their equipment, likely gas-powered torches and drills.
“You start hearing drilling and very loud noise,” Kassis said.
Cameras also recorded two of the thieves, but so far it has been difficult to identify them.
“I saw two guys, one who poked his head [out] from the door and the other one banging on the window to alert them that it’s time to leave,” he added.
Away on vacation, Kassis had moved all the jewelry from the shop’s display cases into three steel safes, two of which the thieves were able to cut into.
“They cut a hole and just grabbed everything from there,” the shop owner explained.
Detectives with the Glendora Police Department are investigating the heist and looking at evidence, including blood on one of the safes, left at the scene.
Kassis has also hired a private detective who shared with KTLA that the heist appears to be quite sophisticated, though they believe they have several solid leads.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the Glendora Police Department at 626-914-8250.