7 charged in LA for 'largest jewelry heist in US history'

The truck stop in Lebec, California, where a Brinks truck was robbed of $100 million in jewelry

(Image credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

What happened

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday unsealed an indictment charging seven men for the July 2022 heist of an estimated $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches from the back of a Brinks armored big rig, calling it "the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history." Two of the suspects were arrested Monday, one is in jail in Arizona for an unrelated burglary and the other four are at large.

Who said what

The "heist has been a mystery" for three years, the BBC said. The indictment "was a long time coming, and there were times when the victims and members of the team wondered whether we'd see this success,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Butler said Tuesday. According to the indictment, the thieves followed the Brinks truck from a jewelry show outside San Francisco to a Flying J truck stop 300 miles to the south. When the driver went in to eat at about 2 a.m., the burglars cut the lock and stole 24 of 73 bags of jewelry, the indictment alleged.

When they got back to L.A., the thieves "may not have grasped how large their score was," the Los Angeles Times said. For the victims, "the fallout from the heist has been ugly," with Brinks suing to cap payouts to the 14 robbed jewelers at the declared value of $8.7 million and the jewelers countersuing.

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What next?

Some of the jewelry and watches were recovered Monday, along with a large amount of cash. Butler said investigators were still searching for the remaining jewelry.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.