Million Dollar Heist: He Crawled Through a Candy Store — Then Robbed the Jewelry Shop Nextdoor
Daniel Jordan 
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — Just before midnight on Sunday, May 25, a group of burglars broke into Dr. Conkey’s Candy & Coffee Co. on Cochran Street. But it wasn’t candy they were after. They crawled through the building, spray-painted the security cameras, then drilled a hole through a shared wall — six inches of concrete and drywall — into the back of 5 Star Jewelry & Watch Repair.
Once inside the jewelry store, the crew used heavy tools to cut through eight inches of safe steel. Over the next three to four hours, they cleared out nearly everything inside. Gold, diamonds, watches, and customer repairs — gone. The alarm system never went off.
Jonathan Youssef, who runs the store, said in an interview with KTLA that the family lost more than $2 million worth of inventory and repairs. But the financial loss isn’t what hurts most.
“My dad built this place from scratch,” he told reporter Jennifer McGraw. “He’s 71 and was ready to retire. Now everything he saved is gone. And worst of all — a lot of what they took wasn’t ours. It was people’s wedding rings, heirlooms, things you can’t replace.”
His father, Jacob Youssef, opened the store 25 years ago after retiring from another business. Jonathan took over in 2015, slowly stepping in so his father could step back. Just recently, they ordered a new sign to close on Mondays so Jacob wouldn’t have to work every day. He never got to see it go up.
“I feel bad because this was my life, my retirement… they got everything we had,” Jacob told KTLA, through tears. “I don’t know what to say… I’m 71 years old… I cannot rebuild what I did in my lifetime.”
What makes this burglary even more chilling is how familiar it’s starting to sound. Only days later, another family-run jewelry store in Glendale was hit in almost the same way. In that case, the thieves also came in through the ceiling, cut power to the alarm and cameras, and went straight for the safe, as reported by ABC7.
And just two weeks before that, a store in Los Angeles was robbed after burglars tunneled through three feet of brick from an abandoned building next door. They got into two large safes and took an estimated $20 million worth of gold jewelry. No alarms. No video. No suspects.
“They tunneled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” LAPD officer David Cuellar told FOX 11 about the Love Jewels heist.
The store owner’s son told NBC4 that “they were able to disable the cameras, disable the alarm and they were able to get into both the safes.” He believed the suspects had spent several nights tunneling before executing the robbery.
Police say these aren’t smash-and-grab jobs. These are professional crews, possibly the same team, with detailed knowledge of how to bypass alarm systems and exactly where to cut.
The FBI is now involved in the investigation. They’re comparing surveillance footage and forensic evidence from each scene, looking for patterns — or mistakes.
For now, the Youssefs are trying to figure out what’s next. They don’t have insurance that covers this kind of loss. “Most small jewelers can’t afford it,” Jonathan said to KTLA. “The premiums are just too high. You roll the dice, and we lost.”
He’s set up a fundraiser to help the store recover. It won’t bring back the stolen pieces, but it might help them stay open. Donations can be made at: GiveSendGo: 5 Star Jewelry Simi Valley.
Simi Valley Police are urging anyone who might have seen or heard anything that night — even something that didn’t seem important at the time — to contact them. Because this time, the thieves didn’t just take merchandise. They took a family’s legacy.
