Thieves steal about $30 million in historic California heist, police says

LOS ANGELES  — Thieves stole as much $30 million in an Easter Sunday burglary at a Los Angeles money storage facility in one of the largest cash heists in city history, police said Wednesday.

The burglary occurred Sunday night at an unnamed facility in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley where cash from businesses across the region is handled and stored, LA Police Department Commander Elaine Morales told the Los Angeles Times.

The burglars were able to breach the building as well as the safe where the money was stored, Morales said.

The operators of the business, whom police did not identify, did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault on Monday.

The Times said the break-in was among the largest cash burglaries in Los Angeles history, and the total surpassed any armored-car heist in the city as well.

The theft comes nearly two years after as much as $100 million in jewels and other valuables were stolen from a Brink’s big rig at a Southern California truck stop. The thieves haven’t been caught.