A driver was snoozing in the sleeper of the armored truck while thieves stole jewelry out of the back during last month’s heist, Brinks has revealed.
The detail was disclosed in a lawsuit filed by Brink’s against 13 jewelers whose items were being transported to the LA area for the International Gem and Jewelry Show, LA Times Reports.
In the lawsuit, Brink’s alleges that the sleeping driver “did not see or hear anything unusual” during the 27 minute theft on July 11th, during which the trailer’s seal was removed and the lock was “cut away.” At the time of the heist, the truck’s other driver was inside of the Flying J Travel center in Lebec, California.
While details of the investigation have not been released, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators say that surveillance cameras captured plenty of footage of the incident.
“You cannot move 100 feet without being captured on video,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau Sgt. Michael Mileski.
“No merchandise, no business, no money coming in, we are in a terrible situation,” wrote Leona and Paul Wong of Lam’s Jade Center in LA. “We are losing our customers, goodwill and credibility to our creditors. These last few weeks have been the worst time of our lives.”
The Wongs and other jewelers filed a lawsuit against Brink’s on Monday, questioning the company’s efforts to protect their merchandise. This means that both Brink’s and the jewelers have filed lawsuits against each other as a result of the theft.
The jewelry companies are seeking $100 in restitution and $100 in damages, alleging that the truck was unarmored, parked in a “poorly lit” area out of the “immediate vicinity” of security cameras, with the back door facing away from the building. Brink’s filed their lawsuit on August 4th, which seeks to limit any payout it may be asked to make to the jewelry businesses. Currently, Brink’s claims that the stolen merchandise was valued at $10 million – the value declared by the jewelers before transport – while the jewelers allege that the goods were worth closer to $100 million.
Brink’s alleges that the 13 jewelry companies “substantially under-declared the value of their shipments” when they agreed to have their goods transported by the company.
“Brink’s believes that each Defendant seeks to recover more from Brink’s than is permitted under the Contract,” the company said in a statement, claiming that the company should not be liable for the losses of defendants who did not provide the correct monetary value of their property.