The Major Crimes Bureau of the LA County Sheriff’s Department set up its own burglary and robbery task team, which found a large-scale retail theft operation spanning three states.
Peter Sedghi knows a lot about this subject. He’s been a jeweler in Beverly Hills for almost 30 years. When he opened Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills in 2007, he said he had no idea that it would become the site of one of the biggest smash-and-grab thefts in the city.
A video from two years ago shows several thieves taking gold worth what Sedghi said was millions of dollars. He said that cops caught four of the suspects, but they are still looking for two more.
The burglary and robbery task force carried out several search warrants in different parts of LA County for smash-and-grab thefts that happened in Nevada, Arizona, and California.
Multiple Felony Charges against 3 Men accused of Retail Theft in Southern California
Eight big shops, including CVS, reported a lot of break-ins across three states, according to investigators. Detectives said that when they started their investigation, they found that the break-ins were linked to a larger crime ring that stole millions of dollars worth of over-the-counter drugs, cosmetics, and hygiene products, kept them in warehouses, distributed them, and then sold again.
“I personally have not seen this before. How there [were] just so many random products throughout this warehouse in just mass quantities like that,” Capt. Calvin Mah with LASD Major Crimes Bureau said. “It’s just walking into a warehouse with pallets and pallets and pallets of household goods.”
Eight suspects were caught in this operation, according to the police. Mah said that besides smash and grabs, there were also cargo thefts, in which thieves would take pallets of goods from cars or train tracks.