Investigators hope DNA, fingerprints, video can help crack multimillion-dollar heist in Sylmar

Fast Break

Richard Winton April 8, 2024

Investigators probing the heist of up to $30 million from a vault in the San Fernando Valley on Easter Sunday have scrubbed the scene, searching for fingerprints, DNA evidence and other materials, according to law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Federal and local officials have also been working to collect any surveillance or home security video in the suburban Sylmar neighborhood where the heist considered one of the biggest in L.A. history occurred.

The sources declined to say what evidence investigators have collected. No arrests have been made.

The thieves targeted a Gardaworld building on Roxford Street in Sylmar, accessing a vault where huge sums of cash were stored. The Canada-based security giant has not responded to requests for comment.

Officials said the burglars appeared to enter through the roof.

At least one alarm was triggered during the crime, but it was not connected to local law enforcement, according to a source familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The operators of the business did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault the day after Easter.

There was a hole in the side of the building covered by a piece of plywood. A law enforcement source confirmed to The Times there was an effort to breach the side, but it was not clear how that area was used in the heist.

Some neighbors reported hearing a strange mechanical sound a kind of rhythmic whirring that weekend. Others said the Wi-Fi in the area was out. Its unclear whether either was connected to the heist.

Times staff writer Daniel Miller contributed to this report.