Jonathan Youssef, a business owner in Simi Valley, ran for his jewelry and repair shop on Memorial Day morning, fearing the worst.
The business owner next door called him after 6 a.m. and said the thief had broken into their coffee and candy store and violated Youssef's agency, 5-star jewelry and watch repairs.
His father and the store’s founder, Jacoub Youssef, 71, has arrived at the store located in the strip mall.
The safe appears to be intact. Jacoub tries to reassure his newborn son – maybe himself: “They didn't open the safe.”
But Jonathan is not sure.
“It's like a movie like 'Elevens in the Ocean' or 'Italian work,'” said Jonathan Youssef, co-owner of the store. “I couldn't believe it, but I told my father to open the safe.”
The patriarch did this to find gold bars, clients’ jewelry, decades of savings, and other lost items.
Jonathan Youssef said community members have been providing support and sympathy since the burglary.
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Jonathan Youssef fought Times Alder Ander Ackens Acre Tuesday night, “It's a lifelong work-struggle-disappeared, just gone.” “Everything we have, and worse, the client's heirlooms disappeared. It's unimaginable.”
Simi Valley police received your Youssefs call at 6:33 a.m. Senior official Casey Nicholson said there were an unknown number of thieves who could enter through the candy and coffee shop in Conkey next door to the roof.
Nicholson did not confirm how the thief moved into the jewelry and repair shop, noting that the crime is still under investigation. Surveillance footage provided to KTLA shows the thief crawling on the floor.
Jonathan Youssef said the detective told him that theft had sprayed the thief when they entered Dr. Conkey. Then they spent about three hours on the walls, about eight inches of 5,000 pounds safe. They cut a crate-sized hole and grabbed everything inside.
The thief has a hole in the safe for repair of 5-star jewelry and watches in the Saimi Valley.
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“They're not lazy, it's not their first rodeo,” Jonathan Youssef said of the thief. “They know where the camera is, how to escape detection and the equipment used to get into the safe.”
Jonathan Youssef estimates his store lost between $2 million and $2.5 million in personal inventory – gold bars, silver bars, platinum and platinum shards, cash, multiple high-end Rolex, Tag Heuer and Omega watches, center stone diamond engagement rings and more.
“It's a store merchandise and a buildup of the value of my father's work throughout his life,” said Jonathan Youssef. “He was shocked by the loss.”
Jonathan Youssef said his father was “too annoyed” to talk to the media. In the early 1970s, the older Youssef immigrated to the United States from Egypt in the early 1970s.
Jonathan Youssef said he owned several other small businesses and handed over the jewelry store he opened 25 years ago to his son in 2015.
When his father approached retirement, they had just decided to cut down on store time. Jonathan bought a sign that reflects the change on Monday.
“He slowly cuts down his time from the store until he actually retires at the end of the year,” said Jonathan Youssef.
But these plans are gradually changing now.
Young Youssef said his shop was unable to ensure their safety is what it was, so it was a total loss. Jonathan Youssef said the only part that is covered by insurance is damage and ultimately invalid security.
“My father doesn't want to retire now,” the son said. “He wants to work hard to help make up for some of the losses.”
Young Youssef estimates that the store’s red is hundreds of thousands of dollars due to jewelry losses belonging to about 100 neighborhood customers. The store’s main business, he said, is not selling jewelry, but changing and repairing.
“These are unacceptable irreplaceable items,” said Jonathan Youssef. “I don't care much about our stock.”
Jonathan Youssef said customers have turned the store into a de facto memorial site since the news crashed.
“I have ladies coming here and crying about their stolen engagement ring or grandma's diamond earrings,” he said. “There was a man screaming his wife's wedding ring on my face, which hurts. It's rough.”
Kathi Van Etten, CEO and president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the burglary shocked the community.
“It’s so difficult because it’s a safe community and you don’t expect these types of things to happen,” she said. “They do everything right from security and taking precautions.”
Van Etten said some chamber members had contacted her to ask how they could help. Some people plan to bring their meals to Youssefs, she said.
“It's a community where people are united and help each other,” Van Etten said.
Young Youssef said he has been maintained by community members shortly after the burglary.
One of his top clients created a Online fundraiserhope to raise $20,000 to help pay for some losses. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund had almost reached $18,000.
“My family is grateful to Simi Valley, our community, for everything we have,” he said. “We have an obligation to this community until everyone who loses something is compensated and we will not rest.”
