LOS ANGELES (AP) — Burglars tunneled through a concrete wall to gain access to a Los Angeles jewelry store, making off with at least $10 million worth of watches, pendants, gold chains and other merchandise, police said.
The heist happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Love Jewels on Broadway in the heart of downtown's jewelry district, according to Officer David Cuellar with the LA Police Department.
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The exterior of Love Jewels is seen Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
An office inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
The exterior of Love Jewels is seen Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
Investigators were reviewing security camera footage that shows the suspects entering the store from a large hole they drilled from the property next door, he said.
“They tunneled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” Cuellar said Tuesday.
An unknown number of suspects fled through the same hole and drove off in a late model Chevy truck, he said. The heist wasn't discovered until store employees arrived for work Monday morning.
Initial estimates are that $10 million worth of merchandise was stolen, Cuellar said, adding that the number could change. The owner told The Associated Press the loss was around $20 million, and that they did not have insurance. No alarms went off and the feed to their in-store security cameras were cut.
At the store on Tuesday, workers covered up the hole in the wall with a metal plate, repaired other damage and cleaned up overturned display cases and discarded boxes. Two large safes were broken into, containing all the merchandise they had in the store.
Customers and friends stopped by to offer sympathy, with some even asking to purchase items.
Love Jewels' website advertises items like a 14 karat yellow gold rope chain for $1,200, heart-shaped gold earrings for $200 and a gold cross pendant for $550. Videos on the store's social media shows glass cases filled with rings, watches and necklaces.
Detectives examined the scene for fingerprints and DNA, police said.
The exterior of Love Jewels is seen Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
An office inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
The exterior of Love Jewels is seen Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
A damaged safe inside of Love Jewels is shown in the shop Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, after a weekend robbery. (AP Photo/Jaimie Ding)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and destroyed bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble. Separate strikes on Tuesday killed two people in Lebanon.
Israel's 18-month offensive against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, raising fears that much of it may never be rebuilt. The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also needed to rescue people from the rubble after Israeli strikes and to clear vital roads.
A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on its parking garage destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped broker the ceasefire that took hold in January. Israel ended the truce last month, renewing its bombardment and ground operations and sealing the territory's 2 million Palestinians off from all imports, including food, fuel and medical supplies.
The strikes also destroyed a water tanker and a mobile generator provided by aid groups, and a truck used to pump sewage, the Jabaliya al-Nazla municipality said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes. The military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the group operates in densely populated areas.
An Israeli airstrike early Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine people, including four women and four children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents.
“They were asleep, sleeping in God’s peace. They had nothing to do with anything,” said Awad Dahliz, the slain girl's grandfather. “What is the fault of this innocent child?"
A separate strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp killed three children and their parents, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service.
Israel's air and ground war has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. They are still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. Israel has said it will keep fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It has pledged to hold onto so-called security zones in Gaza indefinitely.
An Israeli drone strike southeast of Beirut killed Hussein Atwi, a member of the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regionwide Sunni Islamist political movement. The group said he was leaving for work when the drone struck.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said another person was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Tyre province, without providing further details.
Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes across Lebanon despite reaching a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group in November. Israel says it is targeting militants and weapons caches. The Lebanese government says 190 people have been killed and 485 wounded since the ceasefire took hold.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel the day after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict in Lebanon escalated into a full-blown war in September when Israel carried out a heavy wave of strikes and killed most of Hezbollah's top leadership.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said two of its senior members were arrested in Syria “without any explanation.” The Syrian government has not commented.
Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group allied with Hamas and also backed by Iran, had an established presence in Syria during the rule of former President Bashar Assad. It sent fighters to Lebanon to support Hezbollah during the war with Israel.
The arrests came days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus and met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. It was Abbas' first visit to Syria since before the 2011 uprising and the civil war that eventually led to Assad's overthrow last year.
Abbas leads the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by political rivals of Hamas.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians inspect the damage caused by an Israeli army airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Smoke rises from the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A Palestinian man extinguishes the fire from bulldozers after they were hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians examine the remains of bulldozers hit by an Israeli army airstrike in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
