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Burglars Burrow Through 3 Businesses In Attempt To Steal Diamonds

WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — They went to great lengths to score a big heist, but ultimately some would-be thieves came up empty-handed.

KCAL9's Melissa McCarty reports on a group of would-be crooks who burrowed through walls of three businesses in West Hollywood trying to get into a jewelry store to rip off diamonds, pearls and gold.

As McCarty reports, during the day, Huener's Jewelry store is filled with bling.

The family-owned business is admittedly not an easy mark. Owner Robert Goukasian says, "It's hard to break into our stores. A lot of safety precautionary measures we've taken."

The crooks still tried.

They first used a crowbar to pry open doors to lead to a second-story clothing store on Fairfax and Santa Monica.

They then cut a hole, big enough for a body to get through.

The second store, an empty cafe undergoing a remodel. The would-be thieves kept burrowing until they got to the jewelry store.

McCarty reports, as they popped their heads up through holes in the wall, they tripped alarm wires.

Father and son called police immediately. "While I was calling the police," said Goukasian, "they were were still inside."

By the time SWAT busted through the vacant store's doors, a scene caught on store security tape, the burglars were gone.

Had they made it into the jewelry store all the way, reports McCarty, the thieves would have been disappointed anyway. They would have discovered that all the jewelry encased during the day is put away and locked up at night.

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