Burglars Tunnel Their Way Into Bank

Burglars rifled at least 75 safety deposit boxes and made off with $190,000 in cash over the weekend after tunneling into a First Interstate Bank office in Hollywood, police said Monday.

Los Angeles police Lt. Howard Hughie said the burglars tunneled into the area of the bank where the safety deposit boxes are located. Officials said they may have used a sewer to get within tunneling distance of the bank at 7700 Sunset Blvd.

“It took a lot of work,” Hughie said. “It was a very professional job.”

First Interstate officials closed the office Monday after employees discovered the burglary about 7:30 a.m., bank spokesman John Popovich said.

“The burglars had to drill through about three feet of concrete and reinforced steel,” Popovich said. “It seems as though they followed a sewer line that brought them within access to the branch.”

He said police found tools, including sledgehammers and drills, believed used by the burglars.

Popovich said that of 1,050 safe deposit boxes in the office, only about 75 had contents. Employees at the branch are calling affected customers and setting up appointments for them to come in to make inventory of their boxes and establish what valuables are missing, he said.