A lawsuit has been filed by Brink’s, after one of the security company’s drivers was asleep during a multimillion-dollar jewel heist in Southern California last month.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on Aug. 4, states that ahead of the robbery, “Per Department of Transportation regulations, Driver 1 left Driver 2 asleep in the truck and went into the Flying J for food.”
“Driver 1 returned to the truck about 27 minutes later, at 2:32 am, and saw that the red plastic seal around the trailer was cut and lying on the ground. He then inspected the trailer’s rear lock and found that it had been cutaway,” the lawsuit states.
Brink’s also says they have “good reason to believe that the Defendants, many of whom shipped the missing 22 bags, substantially under-declared the value of their shipments on the Pickup Manifest,” which Brink’s says “declares a total value of $8,700,000.”
“Local media reported that the value of the missing shipments exceeds $100,000,000,” the company adds. “Brink’s has reason to believe that the local media reports are based on statements by some or all of the Defendants.”
The defendants include; Arat Jewelry Corp., El Dorado Jewelry, Inc., Forty-Seventh & Fifth and Supreme Collection Corporation.
Dana Callahan, a spokesperson for Brink’s, said the robbery took place on July 11 near Los Angeles.
The jewels were being transported to an event at the Pasadena Convention Center northeast of L.A., following an exhibit hosted by the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo, south of San Francisco.
“According to the information the customers provided to us before they shipped their items, the total value of the missing items is less than $10 million,” Brink’s said in a statement. “We are working with law enforcement, and we will fully reimburse our customers for the value of their assets that were stolen, in accordance with the terms of our contract.”
Brink’s said, “This robbery will hit the 18 vendors very hard. Many of them had built up their inventory over the past 40 years.”
“It’s their whole life,” Brandy Swanson, International Gem and Jewelry Show manager also said. “Some of these people are completely done at this point.”
Sadly, many of the jewels are unlikely to be fully insured because of the cost of the premiums, Swanson added.
“That’s where the discrepancy comes in,” Swanson continued. “These are mom-and-pop operators. They’re devastated. Some of these people have lost their entire livelihoods.”
What a terrible shame especially bc they are mom and pop businesses and their lives have been destroyed by this. I hope the robbers have heart and return the jewelry when they read it was stolen from common man w little or no insurance. Most unlikely but…
Robbers have little to no conscience, nothing will be returned.
Catch the thieves and cut off their hands. No government welfare, no food ,no cash, nothing!
Leave them each a pistol with 1 round, they have a choice.
I’m confused – Brinks is suing the businesses that shipped the jewels? What are they suing them for – lying about the value? If they undervalued it, wouldn’t that be good for Brinks’ insurance? Or are they now claiming a higher value than what they declared on the shipping documents? How do we know it wasn’t an inside job of one of the shippers getting their jewels back and getting an insurance payout? And why is a Brinks trunk eagled with a plastic seal? Can they really be broken into that easily? So many questions.