Brink’s heist mystery: Questions arise about a timeline that ‘doesn’t make any sense’

It has been greater than two months because the multimillion-dollar heist of knickknack from a Brink’s massive rig at a Grapevine truck cease, but key info in regards to the high-profile crime stay in dispute.

There’s debate in regards to the worth of the pilfered items, for instance, with estimates starting from lower than $10 million to greater than $100 million. And questions are actually swirling across the timeline specified by a Brink’s authorized submitting and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division paperwork, which recommend an virtually impossibly swift journey for the tractor-trailer.

This a lot is thought: a Brink’s massive rig loaded with the wares of jewelers taking part within the Worldwide Gem and Jewellery Present departed the San Mateo County Occasion Heart on July 11 for a storage yard about 370 miles south in downtown L.A.

From there, the gamers within the case disagree. Brink’s mentioned in a lawsuit that its two drivers made the roughly 298-mile, late-night trek from San Mateo to the Flying J Journey Heart in Lebec in about 2 hours, 4 minutes, even becoming in a cease alongside Interstate 5. To traverse that distance so rapidly, the car would have needed to drive at speeds upward of 140 mph.

It could take greater than 4 hours to drive the route whereas adhering to hurry limits.

Jerry Kroll, legal professional for the sufferer jewelers, who quantity greater than a dozen, mentioned that the sequence of occasions described by Brink’s “doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why aren’t we being advised what occurred right here? This may’t be,” Kroll mentioned. “Our shoppers deserve an evidence. The victims suffered a life-altering theft … and they’re given a set of info that doesn’t add up.”

It’s unclear whether or not the improbability of the timeline laid out by Brink’s and the Sheriff’s Division could possibly be attributed to a easy misstatement or one other mundane rationalization. Comparable caveats apply to questions in regards to the timing of authorities’ response to the crime, wherein thieves stole 22 luggage of booty whereas, in response to Brink’s, one of many drivers snoozed inside his car’s sleeping berth and the opposite was getting meals on the Flying J.

A Sheriff’s Division incident report reviewed by The Instances mentioned that each drivers advised a deputy that their car left San Mateo at about 12:01 a.m. — data additionally famous by Brink’s in a authorized submitting. At 2:05 a.m., the massive rig arrived on the Flying J, and the motive force went to get his meal, in response to Brink’s. Upon his return 27 minutes later at 2:32 a.m., Brink’s mentioned, the motive force found that the 18-wheeler had been compromised. A information launch issued by the Sheriff’s Division on July 18 mentioned that the theft occurred throughout the identical time-frame.

The sheriff’s incident report, which was drawn from preliminary interviews with the drivers, mentioned that deputies responded to a “car housebreaking name for service” on the truck cease round 3:56 a.m. It didn’t say when the drivers alerted legislation enforcement, leaving unclear how a lot time elapsed between the crime, its reporting and authorities’ response.

Requested in regards to the chronology, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Mileski mentioned, “We’re not ready to supply up to date data presently,” although he famous that investigators with the division’s main crimes bureau had carried out in-depth interviews with all these concerned.

Brink’s spokeswoman Dana Callahan mentioned that the corporate is “persevering with to work with the legislation enforcement businesses investigating this incident. We defer to these businesses on questions on their investigations.”

Kroll mentioned essentially the most unlikely ingredient of the chronology disclosed by Brink’s pertains to the 18-wheeler’s journey because it approached the Grapevine. Brink’s has mentioned that the car stopped on the Buttonwillow relaxation space about 1:49 a.m. so one of many drivers may use the toilet, after which continued on to the Flying J, reaching it about 16 minutes later. The Buttonwillow relaxation cease is about 55 miles from the Flying J. Masking that distance in a bit of greater than 1 / 4 of an hour would require driving at speeds upward of 200 mph.

“There’s no credibility to it,” Kroll mentioned.

Lately, two Instances journalists made separate automotive journeys down that 55-mile stretch of the Interstate 5. One of many drives took 46 minutes and the opposite, accomplished in site visitors that was at instances very heavy, took 1 hour, 21 minutes.

The timeline was first disclosed in an Aug. 4 lawsuit filed by Brink’s towards the affected jewellery corporations, whose merchandise the corporate was transporting to the L.A. space for an additional commerce present. The grievance is a part of a wider authorized dispute between the Richmond, Va., firm and the jewelers over the dimensions of the stolen haul.

The Brink’s lawsuit alleged that the pilfered objects had a declared complete worth of $8.7 million — a determine it mentioned was drawn from agreements signed by its jewellery enterprise clients. The grievance seeks to restrict any payout Brink’s may must make to the jewelers to that quantity, alleging they “considerably under-declared the worth of their shipments.” (Some jewelers have mentioned that they assigned their merchandise decrease values than their fair-market prices to scale back delivery charges.)

The jewellery companies later alleged in a lawsuit filed towards Brink’s and different events that the unnamed tractor-trailer drivers’ conduct was “grossly negligent” — and that “lax safety” by the corporate allowed the theft to happen. The lawsuit for alleged breach of contract and extra claims mentioned the jewellery corporations’ merchandise was value about $100 million. It seeks at the very least $200 million in restitution and damages.

The sheriff’s incident report, dated July 11, reveals new particulars in regards to the heist.

Written by a deputy who arrived on the scene, the report mentioned that the motive force who dined on the Flying J discovered upon his return to the car that its lock had been “lower away and the latches, the place the lock as soon as was, had been bent. The lock was no the place [sic] to be discovered.”

The sleeping driver famous that he “didn’t see who dedicated the housebreaking or hear something uncommon, or discover that they had been being adopted by anybody,” the report mentioned. However, it mentioned, the thieves left one thing behind: “steel fragments on the base of the trailer’s locking mechanism.”

The incident report mentioned that the tractor-trailer’s cargo — which included gems, jewellery, watches and different valuable objects — was contained in “orange marked Brinks luggage.” It additionally mentioned that the blue 2019 Volvo massive rig was “marked Brinks.” It didn’t be aware the presence of car safety features that jewelers and others within the business have advised The Instances they anticipated Brink’s to have utilized when delivery invaluable merchandise. For instance, the report doesn’t point out an alarm on the door of the Brink’s trailer or cameras anyplace on the car.

An proof photograph offered by the FBI reveals a sampling of things stolen within the Brink’s heist.

(FBI)

Arnold Duke, president of the Worldwide Gem and Jewellery Present, mentioned he “at all times thought there was” an alarm on the door, “however actually by no means checked it.”

“I used to be underneath the impression that every part had satellite tv for pc monitoring, cameras, alarms,” he mentioned.

Callahan didn’t reply to a query in regards to the car’s safety features however has beforehand mentioned that Brink’s doesn’t disclose data on the subject as a result of it may compromise operations.

Investigators consider that the heist was the work of refined criminals, given the dearth of violence and the velocity of the thieves’ work, amongst different elements. Sheriff’s Division investigators, who’re working with the FBI, have mentioned that they’ve obtained video footage associated to the incident.

Jewelers say that their companies have been upended by the lack of their merchandise. “For a few of them, [the theft] has fully destroyed their monetary lives,” Kroll mentioned.

As for the vexed timeline, he mentioned: “Brink’s has some explaining to do to the court docket — and to my shoppers.”