In what sounds like something straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster film, thieves managed to break into a San Fernando Valley money storage facility on Easter Sunday, breach the vault and take off with an estimated $30 million in cash, all without tripping a single alarm.
The March 31 heist, which is among the biggest in L.A.’s history, occurred at a GardaWorld facility on Roxford Street in Sylmar that handles cash from businesses across Southern California.
“This is mind-blowing bad,” a Garda employee who did not want to be identified on camera told KTLA. “You would never suspect it, $30 million in the Valley — gone.”
The employee added that he had no idea there was so much cash inside the Sylmar facility.
While it’s unclear how thieves knew about the massive amount of money held in the facility’s safe, the break-in was considered complex, suggesting a highly experienced burglary crew.
According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, thieves entered the building through the roof to gain access to the vault. Outside the vault itself, there were no obvious signs of the break-in, and officials at the facility weren’t even aware of the heist until the safe was opened Monday.
KTLA has also obtained footage of a big hole cut into the side of the building, which was later covered with plywood and has since been repaired.
Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have yet to comment on exactly how the burglary crew got away with the cash unnoticed.
KTLA drone footage showing a hole believed to have been cut by criminals during the March 31, 2024 break-in. 
A close look at the boarded up hole in the building believed to have been made by the thieves on March 31, 2024. (RMG News) 
A worker seen repairing a hole in the building believed to have been made by criminals on March 31, 2024. (KTLA) 
A worker seen repairing a hole in the building believed to have been made by criminals on March 31, 2024. (KTLA) 
GardaWorld Security van seen outside the company’s Sylmar facility. (KTLA)
One law enforcement official with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau who is not on this case told KTLA that money storage facilities like GardaWorld in Sylmar have multiple layers of security and other fortified systems, including alarms and motion sensors.
Robert Clark, a retired Special-Agent-in-Charge at the FBI’s L.A. Field Office, spoke with KTLA about what detectives are likely focusing on right now behind the scenes.
“They will try to determine who had access to the facility, who was aware of the schedule and knew that the money would be in the facility and [for] how long, the security around the facility and how much time they would be able to have to gain access and be able to move such a large amount of money,” Clark said.
Now one of the biggest heists in L.A. History, the retired FBI agent said that a loss this large is rare and it could be an inside job. He also believes there’s a good chance the burglary crew will get caught.
“I think the likelihood is very high because you don’t move that kind of money very quickly,” he said. “It’s not like you’re grabbing a couple of checks and running out the door. To be able to liquidate [it] would be very difficult. You’ll have to have a team of individuals that do it.”
As the investigation and the speculation continues, the LASD major crimes official who spoke to KTLA said there’s also the possibility that it wasn’t an inside job and may have just been an organized crew, criminals who did their homework and managed to pull off the record-breaking heist.
