Millions of dollars in jewellery, gems stolen from armoured car in California

Millions of dollars in jewellery and gems belonging to exhibitors at a California retail show were stolen from an armoured car travelling north of Los Angeles last week, authorities said on Monday.

The robbery took place in the early hours of July 11 in the city of Lancaster, as the vehicle, operated by The Brink's Co, was heading toward a storage facility, said Brandy Swanson, director of the International Gem & Jewellery Show, which hosts retail exhibits in venues around the country.

The robbery involved about 25 to 30 lockers of jewellery and gems belonging to 18 individual exhibitors at a show in San Mateo, south of San Francisco, she said. The merchandise was going into storage ahead of another show scheduled in Pasadena.

Brink's said in a press release that the missing items were worth less than $10 million, while Swanson valued them closer to $100 million. The security company could not be immediately reached for comment.

In explaining the discrepancy, Swanson said smaller exhibitors tend to undervalue their pieces for insurance because of the high cost of coverage.

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"These victims are mom and pop operators, but the value that was in those lockers is worth more than people understand," Swanson said. "That's their life. Their whole life's savings is now gone."