Jewelry Heist in Sherman Oaks Parking Garage
The stolen items reportedly have a retail value of $1 million
Toni Guinyard and Sue Monroe
A jewelry heist in the parking garage of a Sherman Oaks mall happened at a busy time, with hundreds of shoppers nearby
Police are looking for the thieves that made off with about $1 million in jewelry from a Sherman Oaks parking garage Friday afternoon, police said.
The incident occurred at about 3 p.m. on the first floor of a parking garage at the Westfield Fashion Square at the corner of Woodman Avenue and Riverside Drive, according to LAPD Van Nuys police.
Police said the heist appeared to be well-planned.
It began when a blue BMW pulled into a space in the parking garage. What is being described as a silver BMW 3 series with paper "Kolbe" license plates pulled up behind the victims' vehicle, with a Palmdale couple sitting inside, police said.
The pair had just completed a sale at another jewelry store in the Santa Monica area but visiting the mall was not business related, police said.
The victims said they saw two suspects exit the silver vehicle. One reportedly pointed a gun into the car, while the other smashed the rear, passenger-side window, police said.
The jewelry was stolen from husband-and-wife jewelry importers and has a reported retail value of $1 million, and a wholesale value of $600,000.
The suspects reportedly did not speak during the incident and were wearing handkerchiefs over the lower part of their faces. They are being described as Latino men between 25 and 35 years old, according to police.
Los Angeles police were on the scene investigating. Detectives are reviewing surveillance video and said they hope to have it available on LAPD's website as early as Monday.
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