Security Guard Slept Through Heist on Jewelry Truck
July 25, 23
(IDEX Online) - A Brinks security guard was sleeping in the front of his truck as raiders broke a padlock and stole million of dollars worth of jewelry, according to newly-obtained bodycam footage.
The vehicle was on its way from the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, to an event at the Pasadena Convention Center, northeast of Los Angeles. Guards who had pulled over at a rest stop reported the lock had been tampered with at 2am on 11 July 2022.
According to footage supplied by the LA County Sheriff's Department and broadcast by ABC7 News, one guard was getting a meal at the "Flying J" rest stop, 75 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, while the other was asleep in the front of the truck at the time of the heist.
Brink's has filed a lawsuit with a Manhattan federal court claiming the victims undervalued their merchandise and it is not liable to pay above the insured value.
The jewelers, many of them mom-and-pop operators who have lost their entire livelihoods, have, in turn, filed their own lawsuit, alleging breach of contract and negligence by Brink's.
They also claim a Brink's representative advised them to understate the value of their goods, because the cost of shipping would otherwise be prohibitive.
Jerry Kroll, representing 14 of the jewelers, said: "It looks like there was just a padlock on the back (of the truck). A padlock, two guards, one sleeping, the other inside, in our view not guarding the goods."
No arrests have so far been made.