Surveillance footage captured the brazen moment thieves broke into two California businesses in the middle of the night and made off with $2 million in cash and merchandise.
The daring heist unfolded just before midnight on Sunday when the thieves cut a hole in the roof of a candy shop in Simi Valley, Dr. Conkey's Candy & Coffee.
Video from inside the store shows the suspects army-crawling through the shop before drilling through the wall into the safe of the neighboring jewelry store, 5 Star Jewelry and Watch Repair.
The thieves not only got away with cash, but also luxury watches, gold jewelry, and customers’ irreplaceable heirloom pieces the store was working on.
Jonathan Youssef, the jewelry store’s owner, told ABC7 that the “life-altering” burglary happened as his father, Jacob Youssef, was getting ready to retire.
“Everything that he built for me and my family is now gone,” Youssef said. “His retirement is gone. My future and my children's future is now needing to be rebuilt.”
Youssef said everything in the store seemed normal until they opened the safe and saw the hole leading to the neighboring store.
“These guys were professional thieves,” he added. “They had a plan, they must've cased us.”
The alarm system was not triggered during the three-hour ordeal, ABC7 reported. The business owners suspect their stores were targeted in what they called a professional robbery.
Ted Mackel, owner of the candy shop, said cash was stolen from his store.
“We're all emotionally affected by Jacob's loss, and as business owners, we worry who's next,” Mackel said. “Because someone's livelihood is gone, and the people who did it don't care.”
Police have not yet released any information about the suspects.
