Massive California Brink's jewelry heist is still a mystery - Los Angeles Times

Who pulled off the massive Brink’s heist? And where are the jewels? It’s still a mystery

Lead image graphic for the Brink's heist incident story in comic form from a collaboration with Bloomberg.

The stolen merchandise — worth either $8.7 million or about $100 million, depending on whom you ask — is nowhere to be found.

Illustrations by

Dorothy Gambrell

July 13, 2023 5:30 AM PT

In 27 minutes, millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry vanished from a Brink’s tractor-trailer in Lebec, Calif., last year. The fallout from the heist has been ugly, with Brink’s Co. suing the victimized merchants, who then filed their own suit against the company. Bloomberg Businessweek partnered with Los Angeles Times reporters Daniel Miller and Richard Winton, who’ve covered the story, for an illustrated look at the crime. Here’s what we know about how it went down.

The jewelry industry isn’t as glitzy as it might seem, especially for those on the trade-show circuit.

Jewelers eke out a living under harsh lighting in drab convention centers.

It’s a business built on handshake deals, generous favors and well-earned trust.

Jean Malki co-owns Forty-Seventh & Fifth Inc. In August 2022, he was having lunch with a reporter and choking back tears.

He recounted having to tell his kids about what had happened to his company, when more than 650 pieces were taken from him.

His daughter tried to cheer him up. “Dad, don’t worry, I’m gonna have a lemonade stand.” She gave me the biggest hug.

That July, the International Gem and Jewelry Show's manager noticed a man near the back of the municipal events center.

He wasn’t supposed to be there—the show ended at 5 p.m. Swanson instructed a security guard to escort him out the door.

Swanson alerted workers for Brink’s, which had been hired to load and drive most of the jewelers’ wares from the venue to LA.

The expo’s organizers also warned jewelers over the facility’s loudspeaker to the presence of “suspicious” people on site.

Such warnings are routine, though on this day they were delivered with more urgency than normal, the LA Times later reported.

One of the drivers, Tandy Motley, said in a deposition that a man in a SUV watched him while the tractor-trailer was loaded.

There was somebody kind of looking at me weird, just sitting there, as we were getting loaded. It just felt weird.

In a deposition, the other driver, James Beaty, also noted "a gentleman that was staring" at him.

The jewelers’ cases continued to be packed up—73 bags in all. The truck drove away from the convention center at 8:25 p.m.,

beginning a planned journey of roughly 370 miles south to LA on Interstate 5.

Beaty was bedded down in the sleeping berth behind the cabin, per rules that regulate commercial truck drivers off-duty time.

Midway through the rig’s climb over the Tejon Pass, at about 2 a.m.,

Motley parked at the Flying J Travel Center in Lebec.

He went to get food at the other end of the property. He was gone for 27 minutes.

Beaty, meanwhile, remained asleep inside the vehicle.

he saw that the trailer’s tamper seal had been removed and its rear lock had been “cut away,” Brink’s said in a legal filing.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department's deputies turned on body cameras and recorded their interactions with Motley and Beaty.

Beaty and Motley said they weren't sure how many bags had been taken. But after a deputy inquired, Motley took inventory.

He told Beaty that only 49 of the 73 bags were still there. Holy shit. That's a lot.

The drivers started to speculate about what had happened. I’m pretty sure we were followed from the show where we got loaded.

Investigators suspect that thieves tracked the big rig from San Mateo using multiple vehicles, waiting for an opening.

Eight of the 14 victimized jewelers are based in LA County. Their tight-knit community has been upended.

One victim, Kenny Lee, lost 1,300-plus items, a collection worth at least $12 million that took 30 years to assemble he said.

Arnold Duke, president of International Gem and Jewelry Show, estimated the stolen items were worth more than $100 million.

But in its lawsuit against the jewelers, Brink’s put the value at $8.7 million.

It’s standard practice to assign merchandise values lower than what they’d be on the open market to reduce shipping fees.

Malki, for example, said he declared the value of his stolen goods at $100,000. He said their fair-market value was way more.

Dana Callahan, a Brink’s spokeswoman, says that in sworn testimony Malki called the valuation he used a "business decision."

The victims were shocked by the Brink’s suit, which sought to limit the company’s financial exposure to $8.7 million.

In their suit, the jewelers demanded about $100 million in restitution and at least $100 million in damages.

Callahan says “the truck was parked in a well-lit, heavily trafficked part of the truck stop.. surrounded by other vehicles."

She adds had the jewelers declared their wares were worth more, then Brink's would have implemented commensurate security.

The merchants' attorney, Jerry Kroll, says, “If they had guarded the goods, we wouldn’t even be here now."

Industry veterans say the merchandise has likely been altered to make it unrecognizable.

The ill-gotten wares would then be sold to fences

who might or might not know the goods were stolen.

Larry Lawton, a former jewel thief who spent over a decade in prison, says the thieves "knew where to get rid of the stuff."

You don’t go into a robbery of this magnitude without having all your ducks in a row.

Whoever planned this planned a good one.

In the years since the heist, authorities have said little about their investigation.

Investigators haven’t linked the suspicious men at the jewelry show to the operation.

We defer to law enforcement if there is any connection between routine warnings to jewelers and the robbery 300 miles away.

Other video captured at the Flying J is thought to exist, but the LA County Sheriff’s Department hasn’t disclosed details.

As the dueling lawsuits trudge along, the merchants are trying to move on.

Malki returned to the jewelry show when it came back to San Mateo in September 2022, just two months after the robbery.

He’s continued to attend shows since then. My showcases are not as full as before

More to Read

Business California

Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller is an enterprise reporter for the Los Angeles Times, working on investigations and features. An L.A. native and UCLA graduate, he joined the staff in 2013.

Richard Winton

Richard Winton is an investigative crime writer for the Los Angeles Times and part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011. Known as @lacrimes on Twitter, during almost 30 years at The Times he also has been part of the breaking news staff that won Pulitzers in 1998, 2004 and 2016.