Thieves high-five after cracking the safe during brazen jewelry heist at West Hollywood store
Jewelry store thieves were caught on camera celebrating and high-fiving the moment they cracked a safe inside a California jewelry store.
The incident happened between June 17 and June 18 at Huener Jewelry on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The group took the entire store’s inventory, including several safes, according to KABC, which spoke to the owner’s son Robert Goukasian.
“At first, I thought they like cut a hole through the wall, and they got in, and they did a quick robbery and they left, but it turned out… it took more than 24 hours,” Goukasian said, adding the store’s alarms never went off.
He said the four robbers did the heist in two trips, one early in the morning and one late and night.
The thieves broke into the store by cutting a hole through the wall. They emptied two large safes that held hundreds of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. Video shows them high-fiving and hugging the moment they cracked one of the safes.
Law enforcement investigators are now working to determine if the group is connected to other thefts in the area. Police have not made any arrests in connection to the robbery.
It’s unclear how much the stolen goods are worth.
The store has been in Goukasian’s family since 1986. He said his family is hoping to persevere through the theft.
“We’ve pretty much lost everything that we had in the store, but we are very optimistic. We are strong.”