In a daring nighttime heist, thieves made off with $800,000 worth of diamonds, gold, and cash from Desiré Jewelry in Glendora, California. The incident, which occurred on May 15, has left the store’s owner, Monir Kassis, reeling.
A crew of four to five burglars broke into the well-secured San Gabriel Valley jewelry store, disabling its alarm system and surveillance cameras. The thieves then used heavy equipment to spend six hours cutting into the store’s safes.
Kassis, who discovered the burglary on May 18, described the heist to KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. The burglars entered through the roof and made off with his entire inventory. There’s a big bag of diamonds, about 600 carats, and a lot of gold chains, a lot of gold for repair,” he said.
Before the surveillance cameras were disabled, they captured the sound of the thieves hauling in equipment, likely gas-powered torches and drills. “You start hearing drilling and very loud noise,” Kassis recalled. Cameras also recorded two of the thieves, though identification has proven difficult.
Kassis, who was on vacation at the time, had moved all the jewelry from the display cases into three steel safes, two of which were breached by the burglars. “They cut a hole and just grabbed everything from there,” he explained.
The Glendora Police Department is investigating the heist, examining evidence including blood found on one of the safes. Kassis has also hired a private detective, who told KTLA that the heist appears to be sophisticated but that they have several solid leads.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the Glendora Police Department at 626-914-8250.
