Burglars tunnel through roof, wall in Arcadia jewelry shop theft – NBC Los Angeles

Burglars broke into an Arcadia jewelry store Friday night after tunneling through the next-door business and cutting through the safe, according to the shop owners.

The burglary at L&Z Jewelry, which has only been in business for about two years, was reported to have happened between Friday night and Saturday morning, police said.

The burglars were able to get into the jewelry shop after gaining access to the next-door business’s roof and tunneling through the walls.

The owners say that thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry were stolen from their safe.

“We lost everything,” said Feihong Zhao, the owner of L&Z Jewelry. “When I opened the front door, I smelled burning… I saw that my safe was cut and saw that the wall had a hole.”

Zhao then says she went through the hole to the business next door, where she noticed the burglars had cut through the roof of the building. She says the burglars were inside for at least four hours.

“They took everything, the jewelry, the chains, also diamonds, everything, rings, they took everything,” said Zhao.

The business owner estimates the thieves stole about half a million in property and an unknown amount of jewelry from customers who brought their items in for repairs. The burglars managed to disable the jewelry store’s alarm system and cameras, so they don’t have any images of the burglars coming in and leaving.

The Arcadia Police Department says that the commercial robbery unit is investigating the incident, which occurred between the night of Oct. 17 and the early morning of Oct. 18, but that they cannot share any further details at this time.

The couple says they started the business recently after years of dreaming of becoming independent.

“Be careful, protect your businesses and your property,” said Zhao.