Cardboard box with $1 million reported stolen from parent’s car in Manhattan Beach [UPDATE]

by Timothy J. Burger

The victim of an alleged Friday the 13th theft of $1 million in a cardboard box from his SUV in Manhattan Beach faces continued danger from “sophisticated” criminals, his lawyer told the Easy Reader this week. He asked that the victim not be publicly identified.

“At this time, there are several ongoing investigations, some of which are private. The people that committed these crimes were sophisticated, and there is reason to believe they may commit more crimes, possibly against my client,” attorney Ryan Baker, of the law firm Waymaker, said by email. “Accordingly, my client asks that his family’s privacy be respected at this time,” Baker said.

The robbery of the victim’s SUV outside the American Martyrs School gym just after 7 pm Sept. 13 shocked the American Martyrs and larger community. The story kicked off rampant speculation as to the circumstances surrounding someone leaving that amount of cash in their car — and a robber with perfect timing. Baker declined to elaborate. 

Other sources say the victim does not appear to be a parent at American Martyrs and lives outside the South Bay in a multi-million dollar home in Los Angeles County. A source also said the victim is not in the cannabis business, knocking down early speculation as to why he had that much cash in his car.

The crime was listed in the Manhattan Beach Police Department Weekly Crime Summary for the week of Sept. 12-18. The crime summary stated a parent reported parking in front of the American Martyrs School gym in the 1700 block of Laurel Avenue, and walking their child into the gym, which is used outside of school hours by various club sports teams.

“[W]hen they returned back to their vehicle [the victim] discovered the rear passenger side window was shattered. The victim stated that a cardboard box containing approximately $1 million dollars was stolen. Officers and the victim discovered a device appearing to be a GPS affixed to the vehicle,” the crime summary stated. 

The victim had not placed the GPS device on the vehicle himself, MBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Andy Abreu told Easy Reader last week. 

“I know it’s a large amount of money and it’s unusual. But I can’t give any more details.”  Sgt. Abreu said last week. “We are trying to protect the victim and work the case.” 

MBPD Chief Rachel Johnson said at a Tuesday evening community meeting at the Joslyn Community Center that she’s been inundated by questions about the case and cautioned the audience not to leave valuables behind in their cars. ER